report published today by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) shows that just over a fifth of British workers are concerned about work-related stress.

The survey report can be downloaded from: http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/books.htm#whass

Figures derived from the Labour Force Survey in 2004/05 indicate that around 13 million working days were lost due to work-related stress in this year. Stress along with Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) accounted for around 70% of all work-related working days lost in Great Britain.

HSE Chief Executive Geoffrey Podger said, "Stress is a major problem in British workplaces and this survey underlines that. Stress can occur in any workplace and it is important that both employers and employees recognise the symptoms at an early stage. We have produced guidance for employers and the stress management standards can help employers tackle the issue."

Around 40% thought that the risk of stress in the workplace could be realistically reduced and less than a third said that their employers had taken preventative action to reduce stress levels in the workplace.

The Workplace Health and Safety Survey (WHASS) was conducted between August and December last year surveyed just over 10,000 workers. The survey concerned employee perceptions of workplace risk and covered a number of different risk categories.

The report released today covers the initial findings of the survey. Further analyses will provide more detailed patterns by industry and assessments of preventive measures within the different risk categories.

The data obtained from the survey will give the HSE a better understanding of how health and safety is being managed in Britain's workplaces and will help to identify what is working and what isn't and why, from the perspective of the workers.

When employees were also asked which risks they thought could realistically be reduced, slips and trips topped the list. Slips and trips cost employers around £512 million every year.

Other significant findings in the report surrounded health and safety training that employees received. Around 73% of employees received training in manual handling but only half of employees surveyed received training about working around moving vehicles. This is significant as 35 workers were killed last year after being struck by a moving vehicle.

A statistical summary of the report is attached (Annex A): this release presents HSE's policy response to the figures.