Resources to reduce work related stress in the MPS

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.23.029863

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. What resources do you provide officers in order to reduce work-related stress that may occur whilst working for the Met?

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Please see the below which is from our stress policy which summaries the help that is available to all staff.

Stress and stress risk assessment
It is really important that you do everything you can to reduce your stress and avoid the risk of illness. It may be that there are things you can do to cope better and it might be that you need to use the support of your line manager and use the professional help available through our free EAP and counselling service if things become increasingly stressful.

The guidance and advice below provides some suggestions for the steps you can take. However, as each individual will respond differently to stress and get stressed by different things you should consider whether there is anything else you could do yourself or suggest to your manager.
Steps you can take if you are experiencing stress

Speaking with someone about stress
We all experience stress. Stress is caused by stressors, things that make us stressful on a personal level. Stressors can be money worries, child care worries and / or workplace stressors such as not getting on well with a team mate or feeling you have too much work to do. We all respond to stressors in different ways, it is how many stressors we are experiencing at any one time, how they make us feel and how we respond that will determine how stressed we are. Prolonged exposure to stress, significant stressful situations and multiple stressors can lead to poor mental health.

It is important that where possible, you talk to someone when you feel stressed. This can be a colleague you trust, your line manager or a friend. If you feel stressed with your work you should speak to your manager so that you can discuss whether there is anything they can do to support you. They can only help if they are aware of the problem so it is really important that you let them know how you feel.

• inform your line manager if you feel that the pressure of the job or the work you are doing is putting you or someone else at risk of increased stress. Explaining specifically which pressures are causing stress and why and ideas to reduce these stressors if you have any
• if you don’t think this is easy to do ask your manager to carry out an individual stress risk assessment. This is a tool which can help you and your manager to identify the causes of stress and potential ways to reduce it
• inform your manager of any underlying medical issues or concerns that you feel may be affecting you in your ability to carry out all aspects of your role, for example if dealing with upsetting imagery reminds you of something you may have once experienced yourself
• explain what you are already doing/considering to help yourself, e.g., seeking help from your GP or working in a different way
• discuss what you see as potential ways of alleviating the pressure

Things you can do to manage your stress
• list your stressors and if helpful solutions and or timeframes for addressing them, not all stressors can be addressed in one go so it can help to break your problems down into more manageable chunks
• if you are experiencing a lot of negative symptoms for example poor sleep, loss of appetite, irritability consider calling the EAP line or book an appointment with your GP and follow their advice
• if following completion of an individual stress risk assessment, you are unable to resolve the issues or remain extremely anxious, consider asking your manager to refer you to occupational health for a formal assessment
• consider having a look at the Health and Safety Executive’s website, which has some advice for individuals
• try to find time for yourself and consider reengaging in something you used to enjoy doing that is away from your work or home stressors
• avoid self-medicating to numb the stress, for example avoid excessive alcohol
• more help and support on ways to manage stress please see the NHS website - Stress
• additional information and details of support services on the Wellbeing intranet page.

Further psychological assessments information
You can access the psychological assessments menu page to find further related content in the What You Need to Know, Managers Guide and Helpful Resources pages.