MAKING a drama out of a crisis is the latest tool being offered to help people facing serious stress at work.

Whether caused by friction between colleagues or a customer who is asking for a punch on the nose, a recent survey by the Health and Safety Executive concluded that stress costs British firms around £370 million every year.

The knock-on cost to society is reckoned to be around ten times that amount.

"Causes of stress can vary from bullying to time management and lack of motivation," said Peter Morgan, of the Chamber of Commerce Hereford and Worcester. "Devices such as computers, which are supposed to make our lives easier, have simply made the problem worse by speeding everything up."

Heidi Withers, a revenue support officer for Malvern Hills District Council, has a job which is likely to bring her into contact with some seriously annoyed people.

"I work in the Council Tax department and we get a lot of customers ringing up who are angry and take it out on the staff," she said.

She is one of a number of employees from firms around the Malvern Hills who have taken part in a new course run by Welland-based consultancy Nelson Training Limited.

"We were taught things like controlling your tone of voice and eye contact in face-to-face situations, to help calm them down," said Heidi.

Viv Nelson left her job as a senior management consultant in Solihull in the summer to set up the business, which is different in its use of actors rather than the dreaded role-play.

Professional dramatists enact day-to-day problem situations identified by workers who attend her courses, such as dealing with a stroppy customer or disruptive pupil. The actors make deliberate mistakes and delegates are asked to point out what they are doing wrong, identifying ways in which they could better conduct themselves when doing it for real.

The technique, called Forum Theatre, was originally developed by a Augusto Boal in the 1970s, who tried to harness the power of drama to incite the peasantry of South America to rise against their dictatorial master.

Mrs Nelson employs it to help people identify methods of dealing with everything from stress and time management, to reducing absenteeism and poor performance. Specialist courses are offered to teachers, police and other professionals, teaching them how to deal with confrontation.

Among those who have taken part in the courses are delegates from Elgar Housing Association, Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade, schools, colleges and businesses.

Wendy Howell, deputy headteacher at Northleigh CE Primary School, in Malvern, said the course had helped her identify better ways to use her time.

"I much preferred not having to do role plays and 90 per cent of the scenarios acted out were relevant to my job," she said. "There were a lot of good common-sense ideas, as well as explaining the theory of time management.

"I'll be passing on what I have learnt to other members of staff."

Rob Millar, a manager at Permadoor, which has factories in Malvern and Upton, attended another Nelson Training course earlier this month on managing absenteeism and poor performance.

He said: "We don't have much a of a problem with absenteeism here and it wasn't long ago I went on the course, so it's difficult to say whether it will make a difference to figures.

"But my colleagues and I are now a lot better equipped to extract information from employees in interview situations after absences."