The Stress Indicator Tool is an online survey designed to gather data anonymously from employees, which can be used in the risk assessment element of HSE's Management Standards approach. Obtaining and understanding this information helps identify areas to improve to prevent and manage work-related stress.
The reporting functionality is automated, so you don't have to spend time collating data or inputting the results manually. This helps avoid data entry errors, making the information collected more accurate and reliable. The report then summarises the views and experiences of employees and provides recommendations for future improvements.
Register for our next webinar:
- Driving culture change with HSE’s tools: What you need to know – Tuesday 19 August at 3:00pm
- Driving culture change with HSE’s tools: How to achieve success in 2026 – Thursday 27 November at 3:00pm
Watch our recent webinars on demand
- Learn now to manage work-related stress using HSE standards and tools - watch on demand
- Learn how to best support home and hybrid workers - watch on demand
Benefits of using the Stress Indicator Tool
- exclusive benchmarking data to see how you are performing against the industry average
- intuitive system that reduces admin time and resources used
- survey available in multiple language templates (premium stress indicator tool only)
- options to customise - add branding, write a personalised introduction, choose appropriate demographic questions and tailor the terminology to reflect your workplace
- automatic analysis of the responses generates a summary report of the results and provides recommendations to address identified issues
- directly focus and compare results against departments, job roles, locations, age etc
- functionality to create bespoke reports to highlight potential priority areas
- access to a wealth of HSE resources
Home and Hybrid working tool
An additional set of questions designed to gather data on stress, anxiety and depression of workers that work partly or fully from home.
It has been developed in collaboration with the University of Hull that can be used alongside the Health and Safety Executive's Stress Indicator Tool (SIT). This is to take account of significant changes to working practices, including technological innovations that have altered the ways people work.
There have been no changes to the original Stress Indicator Tool (SIT). The purpose of the additional question set is to explore stress risks that are of most relevance in the context of modern working practices, and to understand how these might be related to mental health outcomes.
- identify what factors are affecting these types of workers:
- demands - workload, work patterns and the work environment.
- control - how much say the person has in the way they do their work.
- peer support - encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by colleagues.
- manager support - encouragement, sponsorship and resources provided by the organisation and line management.
- relationships - positive working to avoid conflict and dealing with unacceptable behaviour.
- change - how organisational change (large or small) is managed and communicated in the organisation.
- work/home interface - explore risks associated with balancing work and home when working remotely.
- monitoring - explore concerns about being closely monitored.
- analyse results based on the proportion of working time from home.
More detail
An optional extra for organisations who employ home and hybrid workers that spend part or all their time working at home.
The home and hybrid working tool has been developed as a diagnostic tool designed to be used as part of the approach to assessing stress, anxiety, and depression among workers who work partly or fully from home. It has been developed on the basis of rigorous qualitative research that explored stress risk for nearly 300 hybrid workers in varied roles from four public sector organisations. It was then developed further through testing of the scale's psychometric properties using data from over 3,000 workers in the public sector. This sample included office-based, site-based, community-based, home-based, and hybrid workers. The tool demonstrates good reliability and validity, and benchmarks have been developed from the public sector sample. Private sector benchmarks will be developed as the tool evolves.
White papers:
White Paper - Future Work Design (PDF)
Home and Hybrid Working Tool - User Guidance (PDF)
Organisations using Stress Indicator Tool
Several organisations both in the UK and globally are proactively using the Stress Indicator Tool to measure their performance against the HSE Stress Management Standards. It is used and trusted by organisations of all sizes, across all industry sectors. Customers frequently report to us that, because of using the SIT, they have achieved greater engagement and commitment to health and safety from employees, have reduced sickness absence, reduced costs and have demonstrated better support and leadership.
"We invested in the Stress Indicator Tool as it is a ready-made tool that we could adapt to our organisational needs but with a good solid research base behind the reporting."
"We have been looking at the topic of stress for some time, and even created our own stress tool but it was hard to implement, having a HSE version gives us more weight to demonstrate the importance of managing stress."
"We wanted to baseline stress in the organization using the management standards and the Stress Indicator Tool was the perfect way to do it."
"We have been using the Stress Indicator Tool for three years now and it has allowed us to monitor the wellbeing of our employees and shape our response based on the trends identified each year. With the tools ability to break down data be region/ job role etc. this has allowed us to run targeted wellbeing campaigns and we have now improved our score in every factor prior to the previous year."
"I have used the Stress Indicator Tool in the last two businesses I have worked at, I would recommend everywhere I go to work."
"Think about when you conduct the survey, make sure you communicate it properly and tell people what you intend to do with the results. We followed the survey up with listening circles and this was a great way to get some really rich qualitative data."
"The Stress Indicator Tool is great to get an unbiased opinion from your staff as to areas that you are performing well in and those that can be improved. The report building and ability to quickly analyse and report on data using many different and customisable demographics is excellent. The platform is also easy to use for all involved."
Free v Premium version
The tool is available either for free or as an enhanced premium version. The table below provides an outline of the differences between the two options:
| Stress Indicator Tool | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| GDPR Compliant | Yes | Yes |
| Fully Secure ISO27001 (data stored in the UK) | Yes | Yes |
| Survey | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Fully Accessible version | Yes | Yes |
| Suggested control measures based on scores | Yes | Yes |
| Survey mobile compatible via browser | Yes | Yes |
| Survey via mobile app (offline mode) | - | Yes |
| Organisational set demographics | Yes | Yes |
| Personalisation including company logo | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple language templates | No | Yes |
| Total number of employees | 50 | Licence size |
| Administration portal | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Set up multiple assessments | - | Yes |
| Set up organisational demographics | Yes | Yes |
| Shared and linked accounts | - | Yes |
| Ability to download raw data | - | Yes |
| Auto report | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Auto report with priority/focus areas | Yes | Yes |
| Ability to filter auto reports by demographics | Yes (minimum of 10 responses required) | Yes (minimum of 10 responses required) |
| Ability to download and share auto reports | Yes | Yes |
| Home and Hybrid working tool | Free | Premium |
|---|---|---|
| Measures stress risks for home and hybrid workers | Add-on | Add-on |
Free Stress Indicator Tool
Free Stress Indicator Tool (1-50 licence).
By signing up you accept the terms and conditions (PDF)
For help creating an account and setting up your survey visit our help page.
Premium Stress Indicator Tool (pricing)
The Stress Indicator Tool remains available for free to organisations who want to use the tool for a maximum of 50 employees. For those organisations who require a larger licence, the following applies:
| Size of organisation (no. of employees) | Year 1 subscription fee | Annual Charge for each consecutive year |
|---|---|---|
| up to 50 | FREE | FREE |
| 51-100 | £800 | £115 |
| 101-250 | £1,385 | £230 |
| 251-500 | £1,675 | £290 |
| 501-1,000 | £1,960 | £345 |
| 1,001-2,500 | £3,110 | £575 |
| 2,501-5,000 | £5,430 | £1,040 |
| 5,001-10,000 | £8,895 | £1,730 |
| 10,000+ | Price on-request | Price on-request |
The prices outlined allow administrative and user rights to the Stress Indicator Tool (all prices are excluding VAT). The initial cost includes system set up and configuration and the first year of support and maintenance. Licence permits use of the tool according to the appropriate number of people employed by the organisation. Should the number of employees increase, or you wish to expand the licence to cover other parts of the organisation, you will be required to upgrade to the next band.
Home and Hybrid Working Tool (pricing)
The prices outlined allow administrative and user rights to the Stress Indicator Tool (all prices are excluding VAT) and the additional costs for the option add-ons (including home and hybrid working). The initial cost includes system set up and configuration and the first year of support and maintenance. Licence permits use of the tool according to the appropriate number of people employed by the organisation. Should the number of employees increase, or you wish to expand the licence to cover other parts of the organisation, you will be required to upgrade to the next band.
Note: The hybrid and home working survey requires an existing license to the Stress Indicator Tool and cannot be used independently.
| Size of organisation (no. of employees) | Year 1 subscription fee | Annual Charge for each consecutive year | Year 1 hybrid working survey | Annual Charge for each consecutive year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| up to 50 | FREE | FREE | £75 | £35 |
| 51-100 | £800 | £115 | £245 | £35 |
| 101-250 | £1,385 | £230 | £415 | £75 |
| 251-500 | £1,675 | £290 | £500 | £90 |
| 501-1,000 | £1,960 | £345 | £600 | £105 |
| 1,001-2,500 | £3,110 | £575 | £935 | £175 |
| 2,501-5,000 | £5,430 | £1,040 | £1,625 | £315 |
| 5,001-10,000 | £8,895 | £1,730 | £2,670 | £525 |
| 10,000+ | Price on-request | Price on-request | Price on-request | Price on-request |
To enquire or purchase the tool
Confirm the licence size you require per year and contact us for an official quote:
Book online
email: hseorders@tso.co.uk
tel: +44 (0)1603 972959
Why should employers invest in mental health interventions?
A recent report from Deloitte shows a complex but positive case for employers to invest in the mental health of their employees, with an average return of £5 for every £1 spent (5:1). However, there is a large spread of potential returns from 0.4:1 up to nearly 11:1. Interventions with the highest returns tend to focus on preventative large scale initiatives, and on using technology or diagnostics to tailor support for those most in need.
Case Study: 11% Improvement in Stress Sickness Absence
Scottish Power Energy Retail is an international energy company focused on growth, safety and service. They are one of the UK's top customer service suppliers of gas and electricity with around 5.2 million customers. The organisation recently took a dynamic and systematic approach to reducing work-related stress, as they realised the many benefits of doing so. Working in partnership with HSE they were able to improve their sickness absences by 11%.
Related information
Supplier onboarding details (PDF)