TENSE nervous headache? You've probably got stress and it will take more than a proprietary pill to cure it.

Stress accounts for the loss of over 13 million work days per year. With an average of 29 days lost per case, it costs the country about £3.7 billion per year and affects about half a million people.

As BUPA states on its website, everyone is under some pressure in the workplace. Indeed, some external pressure can be a positive factor, helping us to be more productive.

Some people thrive under short-term added pressure and our bodies are designed to meet these short-term demands with the release of adrenaline.

However, excessive and prolonged stress can take its toll, producing a range of physical and emotional problems which tend to be grouped together as work-related stress.

Physical symptoms can include headaches, muscular tension, insomnia, digestive problems, excessive tiredness and lowered sex drive.

Emotional symptoms can include wanting to cry, short-temperedness, loss (or excessive gain) of appetite, poor motivation and poor family/colleague relationships.

Solutions outside work include maintaining creative hobbies and regular physical exercise.

Within work, solutions may include asking for help, prioritising tasks, delegating wherever possible and seizing relaxation opportunities throughout the day.

Yoga is a fantastic stress-reliever and one or two enlightened employers are paying for work-based classes.

Last week the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched a new approach to help employers work with their employees to manage the risks of work-related stress.

You need to go to the website at www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards where you will find a tool kit.

An HSE spokesman said: "We've taken a very practical approach. You can begin by completing a survey of your company and inputting the results. The website will rate your firm against the top 20 per cent of UK employers and also against the UK average.

"Then you can read some case studies about how stress has been dealt with at other companies and what you can do to tackle it in your workplace."

Jane Kennedy the minister for work said: "This is a very practical example of what can be done to demonstrate how easy it can be to reduce the causes of work-related stress."

The HSE has worked with a range of businesses, professional bodies, unions and other agencies on the tool kit, including the arbitration and conciliation service ACAS.

Janet Asherson of the CBI said: "This is an authoritative set of principles and a framework to help employers and employees tackle stress at work." Further information on the subject is available from the British Association for psychotherapies (BABCP). Check out the website at www.babcp.com