National Stress Awareness Day

Wednesday 5th November is the 16th National Stress Awareness Day with the theme ‘Stress: the balancing act.’ The aim of the day is to raise awareness of the opportunities for a good work, life balance and to encourage people to think about what they could be doing to lower their own stress levels.

The latest statistics from the Health and Safety Executive show that the total number of working days lost due to stress, depression or anxiety was 11.3 million in 2013/14. This equates to 39% of the total reported cases for work-related illnesses.

The insurance industry can be a pressurised environment and therefore, it is important for companies to consider having a range of measures in place for employees to tackle stress in the workplace.

For example, at Allianz we support our employees in their search for the right work/life balance through a variety of initiatives including webinars, seminars and employee assistance programmes, such as a free 24/7 helpline which offers confidential advice and support.

Resources provided by employers are only useful if they are used; so National Stress Awareness day is an opportune time to remind employees to consider ways to lower their stress levels. 

Embedding a wellbeing culture within a business is not only in the best interests of employees, but it will also help achieve business benefits, so it is in the interest of the insurance industry to ensure we have effective health and wellbeing initiatives in place.