This recession has set up dangerous new levels of work-related stress, for which HR staff and line management may be unprepared, says the head of a stress management body.  

Carey Cooper, president of ISMA [International Stress Management Association], said that the warning signs have been evident for a while and only now are people starting to realise the destructive pattern of stress in the workplace and the damage this can do to a business.  

Cooper added: “People are turning up to work earlier and staying later because they’re frightened to death that they could be vulnerable to job loss.”