Posted By Kieran J Duignan Rob You're raising two v. incisive issues. The root problem of occupatonal stress is that it is so general that it refers to a plethora of clinical conditions from burnout to ephemeral strain. You are well advised to consult chartered occupational psychologists who are also chartered safety & health practitioners and qualified counsellors. In the instance of bullying, a well-informed H R practitioner and/or employment lawyer would consider to what extent laws of discrimination in terms of gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. may be violated - not least because the potential penalities may be significantly higher than a claim for personal injury damanges under safety/health law.

Posted By DJ Rob, As has already been mentioned, you have raised two distinct issues, one health and safety and the other employment, although there is a clear overlap. Unfortunately, if you do not handle them both correctly, you can end up at the Employment Tribunal or in court. As I am not allowed to give "general" advice, so I recommend that you speak to your HR people if you have any and/or an employment solicitor. Alternatively, if you care to give me a call (07765 405235) or drop me an email with the details, I will be happy to try and assist you. Perhaps the moderators could advise on how we could use the IOSH website to give more 'confidential' advice to colleagues, where it in not possible to give such advice to the "public at large"?