ACADEMIC staff at Bournemouth University are suffering “shocking” stress levels with many claiming to be bullied and intimidated at work, a report has claimed.

Health of staff may be at risk and drastic action is needed to improve the situation, according to a detailed report on a staff survey carried out by respected organisation Capita Limited.

Many have blamed high workloads and claim they have not reported bullying and harassment because they fear being victimised.

Between 2006 and 2010, the number of full time equivalent academic staff fell by 22 per cent, from 668 to 520.

The “alarmingly high” stress levels are said to be among the highest ever encountered by the UCU, the University and College Union.

The union’s report on the results was distributed to staff this week and the Daily Echo has seen a copy.

In the school of Applied Sciences more than half said they are “always or frequently stressed at work” with the number unduly stressed rising to 57 per cent in the Media School.

The same school saw 27 per cent claim to have been the victims of bullying or harassment in the last year, more than half of whom said the source was their line manager or team leader.

In the School of Design, Engineering and Computing, more than half agreed or tended to agree that they were required to do unimportant tasks, which prevented them from completing more important ones.

Nine out of 10 of those who reported being stressed have not reported their concerns because they fear being labelled as a troublemaker, that nothing would happen or have concerns about confidentiality.

In the Business School, half of academics said they were always or frequently stressed at work and 86 per cent of those blamed their workload. The School of Tourism had the lowest level of reported stress among academic staff – the school has not seen as many redundancies as others.

The School of health and social care had the lowest reported level of bullying and harassment in the university.

The survey concluded: “The victims of stress and bullying fear loss of confidentiality, victimisation, being labelled as a troublemaker and, in many cases, believe that reporting this would be futile.

It said each school should be set annual stress reduction targets and the university should take steps to implement preventative measures to tackle the causes of stress and bullying.

‘Excellent place for employees’

Charles Elder, press and public relations manager for the university, said senior figures at BU aimed to ensure it was “an excellent place to work”.

He said the staff survey was conducted early last year due to changes at the university and that a further survey would be conducted in the near future to check progress made and to “identify any additional areas of strength or weakness that need further attention”.

He added: “The BU survey identified a number of important aspects of working life at the University, including the majority of staff who fed back that they were motivated by their role, enjoyed their work and felt proud to work for BU.

“We recognised that some colleagues expressed concern regarding workloads and stress levels as a specific issue.

“The university used the results of the survey over the past year to work even more closely with staff on a number of initiatives, including the development of our new vision and values.

“These are in addition to the support systems already in place to help address the issues raised in an appropriate and timely manner.”

Concerns by department

School of Applied Sciences:

55 per cent of staff report always or frequently being stressed at work

67 per cent of those didn’t report it because they believed nothing would be done

31 per cent said they were currently being bullied or harassed at the time of the survey

77 per cent reported intimidation

Media School:

57 per cent report being unduly stressed at work

90 per cent of those blamed workload

27 per cent said they had been bullied in the last 12 months

50 per cent of those said the line manager or team leader was the source

School of Design, Engineering and Computing:

44 per cent said they do not have time to carry out all their work

39 per cent of academics said they are always or frequently stressed at work

Business School:

50 per cent of academics said they are always or frequently stressed at work

Only 14 per cent of those reported it because of possible victimisation, concerns about confidentiality or belief that nothing would happen

School of Tourism:

33 per cent said they were unduly stressed at work and all said it was due to work demands.

All of those who reported stress said the situation had not been handled appropriately

School of Health and Social Care:

39 per cent of academics said they are always or frequently stressed at work

59 per cent of those said stress was caused from insufficient staff