Watching the England match against Uruguay last night with my husband gave me a real-life example of stress in action. Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure. You can feel anxious, irritable, have sleeping problems, muscle tension, pain, dizziness.

In our house the air was practically blue, the shouting at the TV began pretty much from the moment the match started.

Stress can cause your body to go into “fight or flight” mode, which means your body will release stress hormones into your system to deal with the threat. For people under constant stress those hormones can remain in your body, so whilst the stress itself may not seem like an illness it can cause serious illness if it isn’t addressed.

Spotting early signs of stress give you the opportunity to manage it effectively. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act, our employers are responsible for our Health, Safety and Wellbeing.

Work related stress develops because a person is unable to cope with the demands being placed on them. Stress, including work related stress, can be a significant cause of illness and is known to be linked with high levels of sickness absence, staff turnover and other issues. To deal with this the HSE have developed a series of Management Standards which can be found herehttp://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/index.htm

HSE’s formal definition of work related stress is:

“The adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work.”

So yes, whilst the England team were under pressure last night, so were my ear drums and the rest of the house from the constant leaping up and down and banging on the furniture, good job it isn’t the Health and Safety at Home Act……..

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For our CIEH Stress Management course dates visit www.gsstraining.co.uk/CIEH 

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Kerry Jones, Managing Director, GSS Training https://www.gsstraining.co.uk

After coming on a training course with us, one of our delegates sent us a poem about making choices and taking chances when it comes to the safety of others:

I Chose To Look The Other Way

I could have saved a life that day,

But I chose to look the other way.

It wasn’t that I didn’t care,

I had the time, and I was there.

But I didn’t want to seem a fool,

Or argue over a safety rule.

I knew he’d done the job before,

If I spoke up, he might get sore.

The chances didn’t seem that bad,

I’d done the same, He knew I had.

So I shook my head and walked on by,

He knew the risks as well as I.

He took the chance, I closed an eye,

And with that act, I let him die.

I could have saved a life that day,

But I chose to look the other way.

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Now every time I see his wife,

I’ll know, I should have saved his life.

That guilt is something I must bear,

But it isn’t something you need share.

If you see a risk that others take,

That puts their health or life at stake.

The question asked, or thing you say,

Could help them live another day.

If you see a risk and walk away,

Then hope you never have to say,

I could have saved a life that day,

But I chose, to look the other way.

A poem by Don Merrell

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Next time you see a colleague doing something unsafe, step in and you might just save a life.

Thanks to Brian Jolly for sending us the poem.