Increasing workers wellbeing
through management of
psychosocial risks at work and
workplace health promotion
Strasbourg, 15 May 2012
Dr Malgorzata Milczarek
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
EU-OSHA
 The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
was established in 1996 in Bilbao to help improve
working conditions in the European Union
 EU-OSHA:

identifies emerging risks (research)

consolidates knowledge (reports)

stimulates debate (seminars)

collects and disseminates
good practice information

organises raising-awareness
campaigns

develops and disseminates
practical tools
FOCAL
POINTS
EU Focal Points
Candidate & Potential
Candidate Countries
EEA/EFTA
Focal Points
Management of psychosocial risks
Overview
 Prevalence and consequences of psychosocial risks at work
 Managing psychosocial risks, risk assessment and mental health
promotion
 EU-OSHA projects and publications related to psychosocial risks
(OiRA, HWC 12-15)
 Case study: Top on Job
Management of psychosocial risks
 Work-related stress is one of the biggest
health and safety challenges that we face in
Europe.
 Stress is the second most reported work-related
health problem. EU Labour Force Survey (2007):


28% of workers reported that work negatively
affects their mental well-being
14% of workers who reported work-related health
problems, experienced stress, depresion,
or anxiety as the main problem
 The number of people suffering from
stress-related conditions caused or
made worse by work is likely to increase
Management of psychosocial risks
 Stress: definition and causes
 People experience stress when they perceive
that there is an imbalance between the
demands made of them and the resources
they have available to cope with those
demands.
 Although the experience of stress is
psychological, stress also affects people’s
physical health.
Management of psychosocial risks
 Symptoms of work-related stress
 Individual:
o
o
o
o
Emotional: irritability, anxiety, sleep problems,
depression, hypochondria, alienation, burnout,
relationship problems
Cognitive: difficulty in concentrating,
remembering, learning new things, making
decisions
Behavioural: abuse of drugs, alcohol, and
tobacco
Physiological: back problems, weakened
immunity, peptic ulcers, heart problems,
hypertension.
Management of psychosocial risks
 Symptoms of work-related stress
 Organisational:
o absenteeism, high staff turnover, poor
time-keeping, disciplinary problems,
harassment, reduced productivity,
accidents, errors, and increased costs
from compensation or health care.
Management of psychosocial risks
 European Survey of Enterprises on New &
Emerging Risks – Psychosocial Risks (ESENER)

ESENER Survey asks managers and workers' representatives
about how health and safety risks are managed at their
workplace, with a particular focus on the work-related stress,
violence and harassment.
 Computer-assisted telephone interviews (“CATI”)
 2 questionnaires
 31 countries: 36,000 interviews (2009)
 41 national versions of each questionnaire
 “Enterprises” = both public and private sectors
http://esener.eu
How are psychosocial risks being managed?
 Main concerns and causes

Level of concern about stress, violence and
bullying or harassment; what are the principal
risk factors (e.g. time pressure, poor
communication, job insecurity, etc.)?
 Measures taken

Ad-hoc or ‘reactive’ measures (e.g. training,
change to work organisation, work area
redesign, confidential support, changes to
working time, conflict resolution)
 Procedures in place

More formal or system based than ‘measures’,
e.g. procedures to deal with stress, with
violence or with bullying or harassment
Level of concern about various health and safety
issues
% establishments
10 0
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Major concern
Some concern
No concern
Bullying or
harassment
Violence or
threat of
violence
Noise and
vibration
Dangerous
substances
WR Stress
MSDs
Accidents
0
DK/ NA
(ESENER, 2009)
Concern about work-related stress, harassment, or
violence (ESENER, 2009)
% establishments
Health and social w ork
Education
Public administration and defence; compulsory social
security
Real estate, renting and business activities
Financial intermediation
Other community, social and personal service activities
Mining and quarrying
Transport, storage and communication
EU-27
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles,
motorcycles and personal and household goods
Hotels and restaurants
Construction
Electricity, gas and w ater supply
Manufacturing
0
Bullying or harassment
10
20
30
Violence or threat of violence
40
50
60
70
80
Work-related stress
90 100
(ESENER, 2009)
Prevalence of procedures to deal with work-related
stress, harassment, or violence
% establishments, EU27
H e a lt h a nd s o c ia l wo rk
E duc a t io n
F ina nc ia l int e rm e dia t io n
H o t e ls a nd re s t a ura nt s
O t he r c o m m unit y, s o c ia l a nd pe rs o na l
s e rv ic e a c t iv it ie s
R e a l e s t a t e , re nt ing a nd bus ine s s a c t iv it ie s
P ublic a dm inis t ra t io n a nd de f e nc e ;
c o m puls o ry s o c ia l s e c urit y
Who le s a le a nd re t a il t ra de ; re pa ir o f m o t o r
v e hic le s , m o t o rc yc le s a nd pe rs o na l a nd
ho us e ho ld go o ds
T ra ns po rt , s t o ra ge a nd c o m m unic a t io n
M ining a nd qua rrying a nd E le c t ric it y, ga s
a nd wa t e r s upply
C o ns t ruc t io n
M a nuf a c t uring
0%
(ESENER, 2009)
10%
20%
Bullying or harassment
30%
40%
Work-related violence
50%
60%
70%
Work-related stress
80%
90%
100%
Concern about various psychosocial risk factors
% establishments
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Time pressure
Having to deal
Poor
w ith difficul
communication
customers,
betw een
patients, pupils, management
etc
and employees
Job insecurity
Poor cooperation
amongst
colleagues
Long or
irregular
w orking hours
Problems in
supervisor employee
relationships
Lack of
employee
control in
organising their
w ork
An unclear
human
resources
policy
Discimination for example due
to gender, age
or ethnicity
(ESENER, 2009)
Main difficulties in dealing with health and safety and
with psychosocial risks
% establishments, EU-27
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Lack of
resources such
as time, staff or
money
Lack of
aw areness
Lack of
expertise
Health and safety
Culture w ithin
the
establishment
Sensitivity of the Lack of technical
issue
support or
guidance
Psychosocial risks
(ESENER, 2009)
Managing psychosocial risks
 Employers have an obligation to manage
work-related stress, through the Framework
Directive 89/391/EEC.
 Framework agreement on work-related
stress (2004)
 Framework agreement on harassment and
violence at work (2007)


increasing the awareness and understanding of employers, workers
and their representatives of work-related stress, workplace
harassment and violence,
providing employers, workers and their representatives at all levels
with an action-oriented framework to identify, prevent and manage
problems of work-related stress, harassment and violence at work.
Managing psychosocial risks
 The key to manage psychosocial risks and
prevent work-related stress lies with the
organisation and management of work.
 Risk assessment for psychosocial risks
involves the same basic principles and
processes as for other workplace hazards
 Including workers and their representatives
in the process is crucial to success.
Risk Assessment – the 5 steps
Identify the
hazards
and those
at risk
Evaluate and
prioritise the risk
(who may be harmed
and how)
Monitor
and
review the
situation
Decide on
preventive
actions
Take
action!
 Consult the workers – both on the hazards and
risks and on the proposed solutions
Managing psychosocial risks
 Psychosocial risks
 Control: Low participation in decision making, lack of
control over work methods
 Organisational culture & function: Poor
communication, lack of definition of, organisational
objectives
 Interpersonal relationships at work: conflicts, lack of
social support
 Role in the organisation: role ambiguity, role conflict
 Career development: career stagnation and
uncertainty, job insecurity
 Home-work interface: conflicting demands of work and
home
Managing psychosocial risks
 Psychosocial risks
 Job content: lack of variety, under use of skills, dealing
with difficult clients, patients, students
 Workload & work pace: work overload or under load,
machine pacing, time pressure
 Work schedule: shift working, night shifts, inflexible
work schedules, unpredictable hours, long or unsociable
hours
 Environment & equipment: inadequate equipment
availability, suitability or maintenance, lack of space, poor
lighting, excessive noise
 Organisational and individual symptoms of
stress
Managing psychosocial risks
 OiRA (Online interactive Risk Assessment)
Psychosocial modul
 The OiRA psychosocial module will be addressed to the
partners/intermediaries developing sectoral OiRA tools
 Simple, concrete, practical tool for SME
 Risk assessment and examples of practical solutions
http://www.oiraproject.eu/
Workplace Health Promotion
Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) is the combined efforts
of employers, employees, and society to improve the health
and wellbeing of people at work*
 WHP supports and does not replace workplace risk
management
 Employers are not responsible for worker’s lifestyle
decisions, but can encourage healthy behaviours
 Workers can not be forced to change behaviours, but can be
encouraged and supported to make healthy choices
 Workers’ participation throughout the process is essential
 Comprehensive interventions dealing with both
organisational and individual level factors are required
*ENWHP, Luxembourg Declaration on Workplace Health Promotion in the EU, 2007
Workplace Health Promotion
Project on mental health promotion
 Part of the EU-OSHA long-term project on workplace health promotion
(2008-20013) raising awareness and providing information materials
for employers, workers and their representatives
 An expert group consisting of EU Member States’ experts,
representatives from the Commission, WHO, ILO and the European
Network for Workplace Health Promotion (ENWHP) was established
Products
 EU link collection
 E-Facts (Mental health promotion, Tobacco: health effects and creating a
smoke-free working environment, Work-life balance)
 Reports (Mental health promotion in the workplace
– A good practice report (2011))
 Cartoons
Case study – prevention of alcohol and drugs
“TOP ON JOB!”
Introduction
 Alcohol abuse and other addictions –not openly discussed
 Before addiction occur
Aims: to prevent addiction in a company
 Developing competences among young workers in alcohol and drug consumption
 Personality building (e.g. health awareness, communication skills, conflict
handling, sense of responsibility)
Implementation in the enterprises: “Peer-education”
 Tutor training: Fri-Sat, 4 modules, 60hr + courses on coaching and project
monitoring. Aims: knowledge on alcohol addiction and prevention, enhancing selfawareness and social skills
 Contact point – advice and support
 Supportive networks inside and outside of the company
Results
 Tutors – competent coaches, more responsible use of alcohol
Organisations involved: MAN Diesel SE, BS Miehle, BKK L Bayern.
More information: http://osha.europa.eu/en/topics/whp “case studies”
24
EU-OSHA European Campaigns
 Raising-awareness Campaign 2014 – 2015
“Practical solutions for psychosocial risks”
 Work-related stress, violence, and harassment at work can
be successfully managed
 Promoting tools and methods that have been developed
over the last decade to manage work-related stress,
violence and harassment
 Disseminating good practice examples (at both national &
EU level), including tools for workers’ representatives and
line managers
EU-OSHA resources
 SEP Stress
http://osha.europa.eu/en/topics/stress
 SEP WHP
http://osha.europa.eu/en/topics/whp

Factsheets (e.g. Work-related stress; Practical advice for workers on

E-facts 31 (e.g. Managing psychosocial risks with cleaning workers;

Reports (e.g. How to Tackle Psychosocial Issues and Reduce Work-related

ESENER: mapping tool (www.esener.eu), printed publications
tackling work-related stress and its causes; Prevention of violence to staff in
the education sector)
Prevention of work-related stress in the education sector)
Stress; Psychosocial risk management; Drivers and barriers for psychosocial
risk management)
Thank you for your attention!
EU-OSHA: http://osha.europa.eu
Malgorzata Milczarek:
milczarek@osha.europa.eu