The government's health and safety watchdog has launched a new bid to reduce the £3.7 billion a year cost of work-related stress.

In a move timed to coincide with "national stress awareness day", the Health and Safety Executive published a new report setting out how large employers could work with employees to manage the risks from stress.

The recommendations were put together in cooperation with a range of business representatives, unions and professional bodies.

They set out a "continuous improvement model featuring a benchmarking tool... to help managers gauge stress levels, compare themselves with other organisations, and work with employees to identify solutions", said the HSE.

The watchdog added that the new standards are a "toolkit" for managers rather than a new set of regulations.

Jane Kennedy, minister for work, said it was important to "work on practical methods that show organisations how easy it can be to tackle and prevent health issues".

Health and Safety Commission chairman Bill Callaghan added that while pressure could help keep staff motivated, "excessive pressure can lead to stress which undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill".

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, meanwhile, warned that "most employers are doing very little to combat the UK's growing stress epidemic".

"With TUC figures showing that three in five workers now complain of stress at work, the new HSE management standards should encourage employers to take their staff welfare responsibilities more seriously," he said.

But Janet Asherson of the CBI said the latest measures were an "authoritative set of principles and a framework to help employers and employees tackle stress at work".

Stressed out

Also coinciding with national stress awareness day, two separate surveys highlighted the degree to which stress is becoming a workplace issue.

A survey of the Institute of Directors' members reported that 58 per cent have no experience of their staff suffering from stress.

And 76 per cent said they have increased training and support to deal with potential problems of stress at work.

"Excessive workloads, management style and organisational changes at work can result in stress at work," said Richard Wilson, IoD head of business policy.

"However, most IoD members are now taking stress seriously and are adopting sensible approaches to reduce pressure on employees.

"Also, the survey shows that 65 per cent of employers do not think the problem is worsening."

A separate survey for Standard Life Healthcare found that 71 per cent of people believe that stress levels in the workplace would reduce if employers played a role in managing their workers' healthcare

Mike Hall, chief executive of Standard Life Healthcare, said stress cold be reduced if bosses invest in staff health and well-being. 

"Clearly, active management of stress, health and well-being is a win-win for employers," he said.