In its annual report published in November 2025, the Health and Safety Executive highlighted an increase in work-related stress, depression and anxiety cases. 964,000 cases (representing 52%) were reported compared with 750,000 the year before. The trend clearly shows that these cases are increasing at an alarming rate. The main reasons cited were workloads, pressure to meet tight deadlines, excessive pressures and responsibilities, lack of management support, violence, bullying and harassment, and organisational restructures.
In 2022, HSE issued its 10-year strategic plan, making management of work-related stress a major cornerstone of its policies. Following this, in December 2025, the HSE served a Notice of Contravention on the University of Birmingham for not having an effective system in place to identify, deal with and manage work-related stress. Despite having policies and procedures in place, they found many material breaches, concluding that these were inadequate. They also noted that there was no mechanism to monitor, review and update them. Their key conclusions were:
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The University had failed to fully implement its stress management policy.
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The organisational stress risk assessment failed to sufficiently identify the key risks and control measures required to prevent work-related stress.
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The controls identified in the risk assessment were not adequate to reduce the risk of workers experiencing work-related stress.
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Effective monitoring and review systems were not in place to check that the controls identified for managing work-related stress were suitable.
It was also noted that:
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There were varying degrees of understanding of the roles and responsibilities for the management of health and safety.
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There was inconsistent training for those responsible for carrying out risk assessments.
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The work-related stress risk assessment did not identify the roles most at risk, workers were not involved or consulted in its development, and the identified control measures were not implemented.
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There was no central system for reporting work-related stress — as a result, local cases remained unidentified and unknown to the University.
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There was no staff consultation or involvement in drawing up work-related stress policies and procedures.
These findings suggest that the HSE is now firmly focusing on mental health issues in the workplace, and we are likely to see increased efforts to identify and deal with offending employers. Initially, it is hoped they will take steps to educate and raise awareness, but going forward they are likely to be more robust in prosecuting offenders.
In recognition of this, the government has launched a new initiative aimed at reducing workplace sickness by offering occupational health training to small businesses. It seeks to improve employee wellbeing and productivity by equipping employers with the tools and knowledge to manage health issues effectively. Managers can sign up for the free training on the campaign website, which will go live imminently. The site will be open for pre-registration until 31 December and registration from 2 January 2026. Further information regarding this can be found on the Government page.
Employers are advised to recognise and accept mental health issues as a genuine HS hazard, and draw up policies and procedures for the reporting, identification, handling and management of stress cases, with effective monitoring, reviews and updates. With increased focus, failures are more likely to be detected and enforced rigorously. The Health and Safety Helpline is available to call on 01455 852028 to obtain appropriate advice to ensure you remain compliant and avoid the risks of prosecutions and financial penalties.
