Council staff are to be asked what leaves them wound-up and stressed.

Almost 1,000 days were lost last year by Craven Council staff taking time off because of stress.

The authority, which employs just over 300 people, is now to spend around £7,500 introducing new measures to combat the problem.

It will also seek help from Birmingham City Council, which was recently ordered to pay £67,000 to a former employee who claimed she was driven to the verge of a nervous breakdown by her job.

Susan Laycock, Craven's head of human resources, said: "There's no single solution to addressing stress-related issues because they can differ from individual to individual.

"However, successful strategies can, in addition to reducing stress levels, lead to a reduction in absenteeism, improved time-keeping, fewer disciplinary problems, lower turnover and improvements to morale, motivation and communication.''

The Council's strategic and performance review committee has decided to spend £1,500 on a stress audit and a further £6,000 on a healthy lifestyle exhibition which would involve every employee taking part over several days.

Councillor Carl Lis (Independent, Ingleborough), leader of his group, said: "It is obvious something must be done because the statistics reveal that the majority of our absenteeism is related to stress and it would be wrong of us not to take action.''

He said the workload had increased a great deal in recent years and he hoped the stress survey would expose potential stressful areas

"I agree we should consult an authority like Birmingham, which has had experience of this and is further along the road to investigating the problem," he added.

A Council survey reveals that between April 1998 and March 1999, 962 days were lost to stress-related illness or depression. Colds and 'flu led to 511 days off.

Unison regional officer Margaret Thomas said the union would be working with the Council to try and find ways of reducing stress levels.

She said: "We are concerned about the levels of stress at Craven and we have spoken to the Council about drawing up a stress audit.''

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