How to run a work stress risk assessment, step by step

What is a work stress risk assessment?

It is the same idea as any health and safety risk assessment, applied to the way work is designed and managed. HSE says employers have a legal duty to protect workers from stress at work by doing a risk assessment and acting on it, and that stress and its effects on mental and physical health should be assessed like other work-related risks. ^[1] The Management Standards describe six areas to assess: demands, control, support, relationships, role, and change. ^[8]

This guide describes the approach so HR teams and small employers can use it. It is not legal advice. Duties differ by country, and in Great Britain you should read HSE's own guidance as well.

What are the steps?

HSE structures the approach as preparation followed by five steps. ^[2] The list below adds practical detail.

1. Prepare the organisation. Get commitment from leaders, name an owner, agree what will be assessed, and tell employees what is happening and why. ^[2]
2. Step 1: Identify the risk factors. Learn what good looks like in each of the six areas, so you know what you are measuring. ^[2][8]
3. Step 2: Work out who can be harmed and how. Gather data: sickness absence, turnover, and a survey such as HSE's Indicator Tool. ^[2][3]
4. Step 3: Evaluate the risks. Test the data with employees in focus groups, and agree the underlying problems and solutions with them. ^[3]
5. Step 4: Record your findings. Write down the significant risks and the decisions, and merge the group action plans into one organisational plan. ^[1][3]
6. Step 5: Monitor and review. Check whether the actions worked, keep people informed, and review when circumstances change. ^[1][2]

What evidence should you gather?

No single number will tell you what is wrong. HSE's Indicator Tool is a 35-item questionnaire mapped to the six areas, and HSE says it should be used alongside other data, not alone. ^[3] It asks people to reflect on their work over the last six months, using a 1 to 5 scale. ^[5]

A 2025 review found that the questions within each area give consistent results (alpha above 0.70) and are linked to burnout and distress in cross-sectional studies. It also notes that the UK norms may be outdated and that the tool does not capture role-specific demands. ^[6]

Pair the survey with data you already hold, and with conversations. HSE lists higher turnover, more sickness absence, more arguments, and more complaints as signs that stress may be a problem in a team. ^[7]

How do you run the conversations?

HSE says data gives only a broad picture: "If you want to know what is affecting employees, you have to ask them." Focus groups of about six to ten people work best, with employees and their representatives taking part. Structure the discussion around the six areas. Each group produces a preliminary action plan, and these are merged into one in Step 4. Share the outcomes with participants soon afterwards. ^[3]

HSE also has a free Stress Talking Toolkit with structured prompts for managers, but warns that it should not be used in isolation. ^[4]

How do you choose actions?

HSE classifies interventions by type: primary, which addresses the source and is usually the most cost-effective; secondary, which helps employees cope but not the cause; and tertiary, which supports employees made ill by work and their return to work. It also classifies them by level, which can be organisation-wide, team or group, or individual, and by timescale, from quick wins to long-term actions. For medium and long-term actions, plan how employees will be kept informed. ^[3]

What should the record look like?

HSE says the record can be brief, noting the significant risks and the decisions made. In Great Britain, if you have five or more workers you are required by law to write the risk assessment down, and HSE provides a template and example assessments for a small bakery, a financial services firm, and a college. ^[1] A useful record answers six questions for each risk.

• What is the risk, and in which of the six areas?
• Who is affected, and how do we know?
• What are we already doing?
• What further action will we take, and is it primary, secondary, or tertiary?
• Who owns it, and by when?
• When will we review it, and how will we tell whether it worked?

What mistakes should you avoid?

Avoid these common mistakes:

• Running a survey and not acting on it, or not reporting back.
• Treating a high score for one team as that team's fault.
• Relying only on secondary actions such as wellbeing apps or resilience training. ^[3]
• Using results to judge individuals, or collecting data that could identify someone.
• Making it a one-off. HSE's approach includes reviewing and making it routine. ^[4]

What if you are a small employer?

You can start with conversation. With fewer than five workers you do not have to write the assessment down in Great Britain, although doing so helps with later review. ^[1] A short team discussion around the six areas, a record of what you agreed, and a date to review may be proportionate. Check the rules where you operate.

Where can you find the tools?

We review HSE's Indicator Tool and Talking Toolkit, and explain how LuriaLab's individual questionnaires differ from workplace risk tools. The individual questionnaires on this site describe a person's answers about themselves, and are not substitutes for an organisational assessment.

• Review: HSE Stress Indicator Tool and Talking Toolkit
• Review: LuriaLab