World Mental Health Day 2026 – take action on work-related stress

This year’s theme, “lived experiences heard: real voices, real change” highlights the importance of listening to people’s experiences and using what is heard to make meaningful improvements.

In the workplace, listening to workers can help employers identify the causes of work-related stress and where improvements may be needed.

But listening is only the first step. Employers have a legal duty to assess and manage the risk of work-related stress and take action to protect workers’ health.

An estimated 964,000 workers in Great Britain are experiencing work-related stress, depression or anxiety, resulting in 22.1 million working days lost. These conditions account for 52% of all work-related ill health and 62% of all working days lost due to work-related ill health.

Kayleigh Roberts, Work-Related Stress Policy Lead at HSE, said:

“This World Mental Health Day, we’re encouraging employers to listen to their workers and take action on what they hear.

“Having an open conversation can help employers understand the pressures people are experiencing at work and identify where stress risks may exist. But these conversations should form part of a wider approach to preventing and managing work-related stress.

“Listening is only the first step. Preventing work-related stress means acting on what you hear, whether that’s reviewing workloads, improving communication, giving people more control over their work or providing better support.”

How employers can prevent work-related stress

Work-related stress can affect anyone, in any sector. It can arise when the demands of work, or the way work is organised and managed, create pressures that people find difficult to cope with.

Employers should take a proactive approach to identifying and managing these risks by:

• Talking to workers about pressures and concerns
• Reviewing workloads, deadlines and working patterns
• Considering how much control workers have over their work
• Carrying out a stress risk assessment
• Reviewing and adjusting actions to make sure risks are being reduced

Free support from Working Minds

HSE’s Working Minds campaign provides free guidance, online learning and practical tools to help employers prevent work-related stress using a risk-management approach based on HSE’s Management Standards.

The Stress Talking Toolkit helps managers start conversations with workers about the pressures they are experiencing, with practical questions and prompts to guide discussions.

The toolkit can help employers identify potential stress risks. The next step is to act on what they find.

Visit Working Minds for free tools, guidance and training to help prevent work-related stress.

You can also:

• Register for the free Working Minds online learning
• Use HSE’s stress risk assessment tools