Jobs in the banking, finance and insurance industries are amongst the most stressful in the UK, a new survey has revealed.
The TUC has revealed that work overload is the main cause of stress at work across Britain.
80% of union safety reps who reported that stress was a problem at their workplace said workload was a major cause, half of the reps also cited change and staff cuts as factors.
The worst industries for stress, according to union safety reps, are central government (72.5% of safety reps in government were worried about the effects stress was having on their colleagues); banking, finance and insurance (72%); education (71.5%); and the health service (61.2%).
Construction (15.3%) and manufacturing (30.8%) safety reps were the least likely to notice stress as a workplace hazard.
The regions where stress is worst are the South East (60.5% of safety reps in the region cited stress as a problem); South West (60%); London (59%), Wales (57%), and Scotland (56.5%).
East Anglia was the least stressed out region, but even so nearly half (49.2%) of safety reps in the area said that it was one of their main concerns.
TUC General Secretary John Monks said:
“Britain's workplaces are some of the most stressed in Europe, and it's time to stop working harder and start working smarter. Long hours and heavy workloads combine to make a lethal mixture which leads to heart attacks, mental illness and social problems like divorce and alcoholism.
“It's plainly a false economy to work people into the ground, and it's the number one problem that needs to be tackled.”
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