Posted on the 22nd of October 2012 in News & Views
Fight or flight is a crucial section of our Stress Awareness training programme as it explains that stress is not some new-fangled made-up condition. Stress is in fact a state that humans have experienced since the dawn of time. Effectively, being overloaded at work is the modern equivalent to stumbling across a sabre-toothed-tiger's den!
In the past physical threats were dealt with by the fight or flight response to help our ancestors survive. Today’s threats are obviously different, but your body doesn’t make any distinction between physical or psychological threats, so negative feelings and everyday hassles also trigger a similar fight or flight response.
This can be a good thing as it can help us meet challenges, achieve peak performance and think more clearly. But it can make you want to run away or punch the boss – the programme explains that as it's not a great idea to do this (!) we have to stay calm and let the feelings dissipate naturally.
Our programme also helps explain the biology behind WHY being stressed leads to other issues. A stressed person may be in permanent fight or flight mode and their body will be diverting blood away from their digestive system to the major muscles to prepare for a fight or to run away. This will almost inevitably end up with issues of the digestive system as less nutrients are absorbed.
For more information about the fight or flight aspect of STRESS have a look at the whole programme - it could be the eye-opener you need!
Either call us on - 01344 867 088 or use our FREE phone number - 0800 612 7088 or request full view directly here (click in the Stress Awareness box).
Posted on the 16th of October 2012 in News & Views
“I thought this training was excellent, providing just the right amount of information without overloading me. It fulfilled its objectives and I am now able to recognise some of the physical manifestations of stress, what some of the causes may be and the steps needed to improve on some of the everyday pressures. This kind of training should, in my opinion become mandatory. ” Lorna Webb, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridgeshire
Read on…
Posted on the 15th of October 2012 in News & Views
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In 2010/11 female workers took 5.9 million days off as a result of stress and male workers took 4.9 million days off. That’s a total of nearly 11 million days lost due to stress!
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Small workplaces are the least stressful with nearly half the incidence of stress in companies with under 50 staff compared to companies with over 250 staff.
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The top three causes of workplace stress are change, work relationships and workload. Others include bullying/inappropriate behaviour, poor work conditions and traumatic incidents.
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The highest risk group for stress is women aged 45-54.
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The South West of England is the most stressful place in the UK with 1,760 incidences of stress per 100,000 people. The West Midlands fares best with just 1,000 cases per 100,000.
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Around one third of ALL lost working days are in some way due to stress.
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There are around 400,000 cases of work-related stress each year.
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The average time taken off for each case of stress is a whopping 27 days!
There is no easy fix for stress - the best solution is to PREVENT it happening in the first place!
You need to have effective strategies in place to reduce and control pressure BEFORE it turns into stress and becomes a problem.
You need our new training programme Stress Awareness in the Workplace. It's interactive, so you have a great chance to look at your own stress levels. You can then sort the coping and prevention strategies into an order that you feel will benefit you, an order to suit you personally. The training clearly explains how and why stress happens, how to spot it and what to do about it. Simply recognising that it may happen to you (or may be happening to you now) may be all you need to nip it in the bud!
Try it out. Have a go at the questionnaire. Order the strategies. See what you think - have a FREE trial.
For more details about the training have a look at the programme contents and read reviews by people who have tried it themselves.
Posted on the 13th of September 2012 in News & Views
Stress Awareness in the Workplace is now available to all iHasco online clients - (for this week only it will be in a testing state, so if you do have a look bear this in mind). It's an exciting time for us because it's our first programme written in HTML5 instead of flash - which means it can be viewed on iPads. It also means that very soon we will be able to add bespoke elements to the programmes for you. Please have a look without obligation.
Read on…
Posted on the 29th of August 2012 in Health and Safety FAQs
Individual iHasco training courses are not accredited by any third party but each is in line with all current relevant UK legislation and the latest up-to-date advice. iHasco courses are always carefully researched, regularly reviewed and made with guidance from experts such as the Buckinghamshire Fire Brigade (for Fire Warden Training).
Links to the relevant legislation are below. It’s often stated in the various legislation that 'all staff must be trained' but deliberately and, in our view, quite correctly does not prescribe what type of training or training provider is necessary. There are just so many possible variables in each workplace and only an employer can decide whether chosen training is sufficient. Our courses are more than adequate in all but very high-risk workplaces where risk assessments should identify where additional specialised training should be considered.
IHasco currently has approaching 10,000 clients and count Primary Health Care Trusts, Local Authorities, Police Forces, Universities, Charities, Large Blue Chip companies and thousands of SMEs amongst them. Each of these has evaluated our training and agreed that it is suitable and testimonials can be supplied and easily found on our website. Our confidence in our products is evident in our policy regarding our preview process – any client or indeed regulatory body is welcome to examine our courses in full before any commitment to buy is even discussed.
We are occasionally made aware of ‘accreditation’ by non-governmental bodies but have decided against these because they lend no official weight to the training and these bodies are often private companies who charge a large fee in return for a logo. Our aim is always to keep the cost of our training down and the quality high. Naturally should the Health and Safety Executive itself ever recommend or offer an accreditation procedure we would seek immediate accreditation.
If you would like further information or clarification please email our Director Mr David Goddard dg@ihasco.co.uk and he will be delighted to reply to you within 24 hours. In the meantime feel free to request a no obligation trial of any of our courses.
Health & Safety Links
Links to some of the relevant health and safety legislation are below.
Fire Safety (This is a long document, sections 19-21 are the most relevant).
Manual Handling (A shorter document, worth reading in full; section 4 is the most relevant).
Display Screen Equipment Training (Entire document worth a read but sections 6 and 7 refer to training).
The Health & Safety at Work Act.
There is other relevant legislation too and if you require further information about how our products can help you comply with legislation please ask. Compliance is, however, just one reason to consider our training – a happier, healthier, safer and more productive and contented workforce and exceptional value, quality and customer service are others.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website is extremely useful www.hse.gov.uk .