{"id":2799,"date":"2023-09-25T13:42:06","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T12:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/noticia\/psychosocial-risks-assessment-and-services\/"},"modified":"2023-09-25T13:42:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T12:42:06","slug":"psychosocial-risks-assessment-and-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/noticia\/psychosocial-risks-assessment-and-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychosocial Risks Assessment and Services"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Portuguese Psychologists&#8217; Association estimates that workers will be absent due to the  <strong>stress and psychological health problems for up to 6.2 days a year.<br \/>\nLoss of productivity due to absenteeism caused by stress of up to 3.2 billion a year. <\/strong>  The indirect costs of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/riscos-psicossociais-tudo-o-que-precisa-saber\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">psychosocial risks<\/a> alone translate into huge financial losses for Portuguese companies.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to talk about Psychological Health at Work and its integral role in Occupational Health, because psychosocial risks not only have a huge financial impact, but an immeasurable human cost.<br \/>\nAnd every company is dependent on its human capital. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are psychosocial risks?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>According to COPSOQ II (Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire), the main psychosocial risk factors are as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Quantitative requirements;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Work pace;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Cognitive\/emotional demands;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Influence at work;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Transparency of the work role performed;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Rewards;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Labor disputes;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Work\/family conflict;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/ideias-erradas-sobre-burnout\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Burnout<\/a>;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Stress;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Depressive symptoms;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Among others.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The existence of one or more of these Psychosocial Risks can contribute to the development of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/psicologia-em-ambiente-laboral\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">psychological health<\/a> problems at work, with negative consequences for both employees and companies.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Consequences for workers:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Personal and family suffering;<\/p>\n<p>Physical ailments, such as muscle and joint pain;<\/p>\n<p>Cardiovascular problems or hypertension;<\/p>\n<p>Mental illness, such as depression or burnout.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Consequences for companies:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Absenteeism and\/or presenteeism;<\/p>\n<p>An increase in the number of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/seguran%C3%A7a-sa%C3%BAde-trabalho-braga-o-que-a-sua-empresa-deve-garantir\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">accidents at work<\/a> and\/or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/doen%C3%A7as-profissionais\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">occupational illnesses<\/a>;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/fadiga-efeitos-ambiente-laboral\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Decreased productivity<\/a> and quality of work;<\/p>\n<p>Need to replace employees and health costs<\/p>\n<p>Against this backdrop, there is a clear need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/avalia%C3%A7%C3%A3o-dos-riscos-profissionais\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">assess and manage psychosocial risks<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Psychosocial Risk Assessment<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>The employer has to assess all the risks to which workers are exposed and which cannot be avoided, such as psychosocial risks.<\/p>\n<p>Psychosocial risk assessment should be carried out by an occupational psychologist.<br \/>\nThe COPSOQ is the method that has an international consensus on the validity and comprehensibility of assessing psychosocial factors at work.<br \/>\nThe version of the COPSOQ to be applied must be defined by the psychologist in conjunction with the company&#8217;s Human Resources and can be adapted to the reality of each organization.  <\/p>\n<p>After applying the COPSOQ, the psychologist will collect and process the data.<br \/>\nThe results are then made known to the company and do not contain any data identifying the individual employee.<br \/>\nAfter analyzing and understanding the results of the assessment, it is important to draw up an Intervention Plan for Psychosocial Risk Management, which should contain preventive and corrective measures.  <\/p>\n<p>The plan should be put together with the occupational health team and the company&#8217;s human resources, so as to come up with holistic, practicable actions adapted to the main problems identified.<br \/>\nThe psychologist should start implementing the plan based on the priorities for action in order to minimize or eliminate the risks.<br \/>\nThe first and most important step is therefore to carry out a psychosocial risk assessment in order to get to know the reality of the organization.<br \/>\nBut this step alone is insufficient to improve psychological well-being; action is now needed to manage psychosocial risks.   <\/p>\n<h3><strong>Managing psychosocial risks<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Psychosocial Risk Intervention Plan necessarily derives from the assessment that carries it out and can be as varied as the characteristics of each company.<br \/>\nIn general, we can say that a good psychosocial risk management strategy is one that has <strong>defined objectives, is adapted to the organization&#8217;s main risks, is realistic to implement given the resources available and is continuous over time.<\/strong> <\/p>\n<p>Here are some preventive and corrective measures that can be part of psychosocial risk management:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Preventive\/corrective measures<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<p>Continuously assessing the possible psychosocial risks in the company;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Encouraging good communication in the workplace by implementing different tools and improving the organizational culture;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Organize teambuildings to improve the relationship between workers;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Promoting health and well-being:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;&nbsp;&nbsp; Facilitating access to individual psychological counseling when necessary;<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;&nbsp;&nbsp; Promoting training\/awareness-raising activities on mental health.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Work adaptation (flexible working hours, for example);<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Provide rehabilitation for your employee;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Involve employees in decision-making\/participation whenever possible, in order to foster a sense of commitment to the job;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Adopt practices that better reconcile <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/equilibrio-trabalho-vida-pessoal\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">work and family life;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Encourage respect for breaks and rest periods;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>To ensure a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/produtividade-laboral\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">healthy and productive<\/a> working environment, it is essential that companies continue to invest in preventing and correcting psychosocial risks.<br \/>\nIn doing so, they not only look after the well-being of their employees, but can also reap the benefits of more motivated, committed and productive teams. <\/p>\n<p>See our infographic <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/14tmnZGftKx25SlZ50zpx2-RtcThRUzLG\/view?usp=sharing\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Read also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sepri.pt\/pt\/noticia\/avalia%C3%A7%C3%A3o-dos-riscos-profissionais\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Occupational Risk Assessment Services Lisbon<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s important to talk about Psychological Health at Work and its integral role in Occupational Health, because psychosocial risks not only have a huge financial impact, but an immeasurable human cost.<br \/>\nAnd every company is dependent on its human capital. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sepri.pt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}