01
Demands
Workload, work patterns, work environment
🇬🇧 United Kingdom 🇬🇧 United Kingdom · HSE Management Standards · COPSOQ III · MHSWR + HSWA s.2
Work-related stress + psychosocial
UK organisational psychosocial assessment uses the HSE Management Standards + HSE Indicator Tool (35 items, 7 domains, free + public). COPSOQ III complements with deeper psychosocial dimensions. Statutory duty under MHSWR 1999 + HSWA section 2.
Why this is a statutory duty
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA) section 2 and the Management of H&S at Work Regulations 1999 (MHSWR) require employers to assess workplace risks, including work-related stress. HSE's Working Minds campaign positions stress assessment as the same kind of legal duty as physical risk assessment.
HSE Indicator Tool — primary instrument
35 items, 7 stressor domains. Free and public domain. The UK first-line instrument for organisational stress assessment. Survey workforce → compare to HSE benchmarks → action plan.
Items
35
Domains
7
Licence
Free, public domain (HSE)
Purpose
Organisational-level stress risk assessment
02
Control
How much say in work
03
Support — managers
Encouragement + resources from managers
04
Support — peers
Encouragement + resources from colleagues
05
Relationships
Promoting positive working + tackling unacceptable behaviour
06
Role
Whether people understand their role; avoiding conflict
07
Change
How change is managed + communicated
Process
Aggregate workforce data → compare to HSE benchmarks → action plan. Statutory employer duty under MHSWR + HSWA section 2 to assess work-related stress.
COPSOQ III — complementary depth
The Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (NRCWE origin) adds dimensions the HSE tool does not cover in depth: effort-reward, social capital, work-family conflict, offensive behaviours. Same international instrument used in US + ES SUPERPREVEN — direct cross-jurisdiction comparison.
Versions: Short ~25-40 · Middle ~70-80 · Long ~120
Use: Pair with HSE Indicator Tool
01 Quantitative demands
02 Work organisation + content
03 Interpersonal relations + leadership
04 Work-individual interface (job insecurity, satisfaction)
05 Values at workplace (trust, fairness, social capital)
06 Health + well-being (general, mental, burnout, sleep)
07 Offensive behaviours (bullying, harassment, violence)
08 Work-family conflict
License: Free non-commercial; commercial requires COPSOQ Network agreement
Individual screening — distinct purpose
For individual mental-health screening (PHQ-9 depression, GAD-7 anxiety, AUDIT alcohol, etc.), see the Questionnaires hub. Organisational tools (HSE MS, COPSOQ) and individual instruments answer different questions — use both deliberately.
Under the physician's clinical judgement
- Surveys feed organisational risk assessment, not individual capability decisions.
- Individual results are confidential — aggregate only is shared with management (HSE guidance + GMC Confidentiality).
- Action plans are management responsibility; OH and HR advise.
- Where individual distress emerges, signpost to OH / Employee Assistance / GP — not to discipline.