AXA Union News

HSE pull out of AXA stress audit...

The Health & Safety Executive have pulled out of the AXA stress audit for funding reasons. The Willing 100 programme, which included the AXA audit, has been wound up having used up its two years budget. As the audit utilised HSE software AXA have advised us that it will not be possible to complete the final stage of the pilot in the sites being audited.

This is the second HSE led pilot within AXA that has not been seen through to completion.

The union are extremely unhappy given the fact that they have been championing the need for a stress audit to be undertaken in AXA since October 2002.

Work-related stress is believed, by independent sources such as the HSE, to account for up to 25% of workplace absenteeism in the UK. Clearly in an organisation under pressure to reduce costs as part of Ambition 2012 it is obvious that if work related stress can be tackled then AXA will benefit from improved attendance levels, as well as employees themselves.

AXA have advised the union that they are drawing up plans to replace the HSE audit and we have advised the company that we expect to see something that is robust and substantive that will be rolled out across the UK Group in support of its aim to be the "Preferred Company" for employees.

26th July 2007

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