Most European companies still don’t have procedures for managing workplace stress and other psychosocial risks, despite the increasing threat that they pose to Europe’s workers (Video Embedded).
 |
| [relatedPosts title=”Related Posts”] |
|
|
This situation is explored in two new reports from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), which look at the reasons why, with 79% of managers in the EU being concerned about stress at work, and 40% concerned with workplace harassment and violence, 74% of European businesses still do not have procedures in place to deal with these issues.
The reports come at a time when increasing numbers of European workers are reporting problems with stress, and with a recent opinion poll showing that 80% of EU workers expect stress levels to increase in the next five years. The health problems associated with stress and other psychosocial risks are well known, and yet it seems that many European businesses are finding it difficult to prevent them.
Findings of the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) show that only 3% of enterprises are tackling psychosocial risks in a fully holistic and systematic way, and 12% did not implement any of the key measures for managing psychosocial risks covered by the survey.
The reports looked at the factors that make businesses more likely to succeed in addressing these issues, including concerns being raised directly by employees, and an awareness of the business case for taking this issue seriously: currently some 50-60% of all lost working days are thought to be related to psychosocial risks, while mental health disorders are estimated to cost 240 billion Euros a year in the EU. Businesses that are aware of the close connection between psychosocial risks and high rates of absenteeism are much more likely to make serious efforts to manage those risks.
At the same time, the reports identify the barriers that many businesses encounter in trying to deal with psychosocial risks, including a lack of technical support and guidance, and a lack of resources.
As EU-OSHA Director Christa Sedlatschek puts it, ‘while psychosocial risks are beginning to be recognised as a key challenge by policymakers, there seems to be a gap between policy and practice, in the way that these risks are managed at the business level. 40% of companies say that they need more information and support in tackling psychosocial risks: we need to do more to raise awareness of what these risks are, and do more to help businesses deal with them, for example through better risk assessments, changes in work organisation, and training.’
The two EU-OSHA reports, ‘Management of psychosocial risks at work’ and ‘Drivers and barriers for psychosocial risk management,’ follow up on EU-OSHA’s ESENER survey. This large-scale study provides a snapshot of the way that managers and workers’ representatives are currently managing health and safety risks in Europe’s workplaces, with the focus especially on the growing area of psychosocial risks.
EU-OSHA will be making available practical tools for dealing with psychosocial risks in its forthcoming Healthy Workplaces Campaign, in 2014-15.
Further Information
- A summary of four secondary analysis reports: Understanding workplace management of safety and health, psychosocial risks and worker participation through ESENER – available in 24 languages
- Drivers and barriers for psychosocial risk management: An analysis of the findings of the ESENER – available in English
- Management of psychosocial risks at work: An analysis of the findings of the ESENER – available in English
- Worker representation and consultation on health and safety: An analysis of the findings of the ESENER – available in English
- Management of occupational safety and health: An analysis of the findings of the ESENER – available in English
- European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks – Managing safety and health at work – available in English
- The ESENER project at a glance
.
