Psychosocial risks arise from deficiencies in the design, organization and management of work, as well as from a problematic social work context, and can have negative effects on psychological, physical and social levels.
Around half of European workers consider stress to be a common situation in the workplace, which contributes to around 50% of lost working days.
Like many other mental health issues, psychosocial risks are often misunderstood and stigmatized.
However, if they are approached as an organizational problem rather than an individual failure, psychosocial risks can be controlled in the same way as any other health and safety risk in the workplace.
Legal basis
Even though legal systems vary between member states, the directives provide the minimum common legal basis for the safety and health of workers. Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work (Framework Directive) has been transposed into national law in all EU Member States.
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Article 5 of the Framework Directive: “The employer has a duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in all aspects of work”;
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Article 6 of the Framework Directive: the employer “must assess the risks that cannot be avoided”;
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Article 9: “The employer must have an assessment of the risks to health and safety at work, including those borne by groups of workers exposed to specific risks.”
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Article 6.3: preventive measures and working and production methods must be integrated into all the activities of the company and/or establishment and at all levels.
What are the symptoms?
When it comes to psychosocial risks, there are a number of symptoms that workers may experience, such as
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Emotional: anxiety, distress, sleep disturbances, depression, isolation, stress and family problems;
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Cognitive: difficulty concentrating, memory failures and impaired learning;
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Physiological: heart disease (high blood pressure) and digestive diseases (ulcers), back pain, muscle injuries and lower immunity;
These symptoms lead to a greater likelihood of accidents at work, lower job satisfaction and less performance and productivity.
What are the causes?
There are various causes of stress, anxiety and even depression.
In terms of work-related stress, we can mention causes such as:
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Organization of tasks and work content: lack of variety or short work cycles, fragmented or meaningless work, insufficient resources, etc;
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Workload/Pace: work overload, lack of control over pace and high levels of time pressure;
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Working hours: shift work, inflexible working hours, unpredictable hours, long working hours or isolated work;
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Relationships at work: with colleagues, superiors, types of leadership, conflicts, etc;
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Cases of Violence, Harassment and Intimidation at Work.
What can companies do?
Companies have a very important role to play in preventing psychosocial risks, since they can implement measures to prevent these cases from arising and, when they already exist, they can also implement corrective measures.
Prevention measures:
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Assessing the possible psychosocial risks in the company;
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Encouraging good communication in the workplace;
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Teambuildings, in order to improve the relationship between workers;
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Promoting Health and Well-Being, facilitating access to individual psychological counseling when necessary, and organizing training/awareness-raising activities and workshops.
Corrective measures
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Work adaptation (more flexible working hours, for example);
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Provide rehabilitation for your employee;
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Involve employees in decision-making/participation whenever possible, in order to foster a sense of commitment to the job;
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Promoting a better balance between personal and professional life;
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Encourage respect for breaks and rest periods;
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Appreciate any signs and symptoms of psychosocial maladjustment in the employee and show willingness to provide the most appropriate support, considering the specifics of each situation.
With SEPRI, you can have your psychosocial risks assessed and be presented with an intervention proposal tailored to your needs, which could range from training/awareness-raising activities and workshops to support in terms of individual psychological intervention.
