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Press Release

NUT on tackling teacher stress

23 April 2011

Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers' union, said;

“It is widely recognised that teaching is one of the most stressful professions to work in. Stress is the predominant cause of work-related illness in the education sector.

“Employers ought to be as keen as the NUT to address this problem, to protect the health of their staff but also to ensure that their schools are safe and productive environments for teaching and learning. It is their duty to ensure that stress risk assessments are carried out. Often head teachers have no proper guidance on how to carry out a risk assessment of any kind, let alone one on stress, which is far harder to assess than a straightforward accident hazard.

“This is not a question of apportioning blame. Training is essential and employers should provide it. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has a role to play in ensuring this happens. However, with them facing budget cuts of 35% over the next four years, their resources will be stretched to the limit.

“The Government's agenda of undermining health and safety laws as mere 'red tape' will inevitably put more lives at risk. We know teaching is stressful, we know some of the causes; now we need to concentrate on what can be done to eliminate them.”



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National Union of Teachers

National Union of Teachers

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