A FREE workshop is to be held next Wednesday (Nov 12) following on from National Stress Awareness Day.

The event will be organised jointly by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and will be held at LA Fitness Centre in Chapel Street.

The Bury workshop will be particularly beneficial in helping local businesses understand HSE's approach to tackling work-related stress. It will explain how to assess the risk of stress in the workplace and how to go about these risks once they have been identified.

Also, the workshop will explain the current legal obligations for employers to tackle work-related stress and the development and status of new management standards for the condition.

According to the HSE, stress-related sickness absence resulted in 13.5 million lost working days in 2001, at a cost to British industry of £370 million.

Places at the Bury workshop are limited but can be reserved by calling Margaret Cook on 0161 763 7969 or by e-mailing bury@isma.org.uk instead.