Ultrasis Plc Regulatory News (ULT)

24 Feb 2005 09:41

Ultrasis PLC24 February 2005 Ultrasis plc ("Ultrasis" or "the Company") New Product Ultrasis, the interactive healthcare company, has today launched a new Internetenabled tool to help employers meet their obligations to identify and addressproblems of stress in the workplace. Calm Workplace - Work Related Stress Audit (WRSA) gives employers of all typesand sizes an easy to implement and cost effective way to help meet the Healthand Safety Executive's (HSE) new stress management standards issued in Novemberof last year. Stress related problems, including anxiety and depression, areestimated to cost the economy around £7 billion a year, with each episode ofabsence averaging 29 days. Over 33,500 companies in the UK with more than 50 employees are being targetedby the HSE. The first to feel the impact have been local authorities, who arerecognised as having the biggest problem with sickness absence due to stressrelated problems. The HSE advocate a three stage approach to cutting down stress related absences,which are estimated to result in 13 million working days lost per year. Thefirst stage is establishing if there are problems and where they occur, thesecond then provides support for staff, with the third and final stage geared tohelping those who have developed clinical problems - such as anxiety ordepression - get back to work. The development of Calm Workplace - WRSA completes the suite of tools developedby Ultrasis to meet this three pronged approach. It has been developed byUltrasis following consultation with leading stakeholders including majorinsurers, public and private employers, trade unions and employer organisationsto meet the audit needs of the first stage in the process. A web based audit tool which can be customised to meet the needs of individualemployers, Calm Workplace - WRSA uses the questionnaire developed by the HSEthemselves to gather data on potential stressors in a workplace environment, aswell as providing sophisticated analysis capabilities to identify where problemsoccur. Additional questionnaires are also options, including a survey toestablish if there is a real problem with stress rather than a perceived one. Although it is Internet enabled, the system still allows data to be collectedfrom employees who do not have access to a web browser. It has also beendesigned to be easily configured and used by any size of organisation. Set up ina matter of minutes through a system of on-line registration, Calm Workplace -WRSA benefits from both low set up and operating costs, with a typical cost peremployee a matter of a few £'s according to Ultrasis plc's CEO, Graham Lewis. "It really is a small price to pay, especially when you think beyond the cost ofcompliance and look at the real benefits its deployment can bring to anorganisation. Not only is it an easy to use tool in helping meet legal andregulatory requirements, it also helps organisations get a better understandingof potential factors which could be causing stress and therefore impedingproductivity. He added, "Stress is a management issue rather than an illness and the way thatCalm Workplace - WRSA collects and analyses data ensures that employee anonymityis protected whilst enabling the employer to identify potential areas of concernwhich may require remedial action within an organisation." Ultrasis also offers clinically proven secondary and tertiary stress managementtools. Its Calm Workplace - The Relief Series is an interactive package usingCognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques to help individuals manage issuessuch as anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia. It will be launched in Aprilthis year by Kent County Council (KCC) as a pilot programme for its 25,000staff. The core technology has also been made available in the St Helens PrimaryHealthcare Trust area as an integral part of their "Oh what a relief"initiative. Beating the Blues is a series of eight computer based modules employing CBTtechniques, developed as non-pharmaceutical treatment for anxiety, stress ordepression. It is currently in use in over 150 healthcare units in the UK - inprimary care practices, secondary care units, prisons and occupational healthdepartments. A study published in the July 2004 edition of the British Journalof Psychiatry showed that using Beating the Blues, in conjunction with othertherapies, significantly reduced the number of days lost to sickness absencefrom depression. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange