Psychosocial risks in the workplace

In the workplace, almost everyone is familiar with the risks of operating certain machinery or lifting heavy objects, working with poorly designed or damaged ladders, or inhaling toxic substances. However, there are other risks that are gaining increasing attention due to changes in the labor market: psychosocial risks. But what exactly do these risks entail?

Let us use the definitions of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, which understands that "psychosocial risks arise from deficiencies in the design, organization and management of work, as well as from a poor social context of work, and can produce negative psychological, physical and social outcomes, such as work stress, burnout or depression!" or that of the National Institute for Safety and Health, which considers these as "those conditions that are present in a work situation and that are directly related to the organization, the content of the work and the performance of the task, and that have the capacity to affect both the well-being or health (physical, mental or social) of the worker and the development of the work."

As can be seen from these definitions, significant exposure to these factors can determine the appearance of health problems in the physical sphere (different studies associate psychosocial risks with events in the cardiovascular sphere or with injuries to the musculoskeletal system), in the mental sphere (which is possibly usually associated with these risks, either in the form of chronic stress or anxiety-depression disorders) or in social aspects (such as, for example, an alteration of family or personal relationships).

Work, a key space for promoting mental health

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In general, we can consider the study of psychosocial factors to be multifactorial, but there is a certain consensus in considering the relationship between the work environment and the person as a basic element , so that "health problems appear when the demands of the job do not adapt to the needs, expectations or capabilities of the worker."

Thus, in this interaction between work and person, we can outline a series of factors linked to work such as the work environment, demographic aspects – such as distance or accessibility to the workplace – characteristics of the labor market or the preventive or environmental sensitivity of the organization, and of the individual himself, factors that can increase individual vulnerability to suffer some type of physical or mental problem, such as our genetic load, personal or social coping resources, or our life history, which can favor individual resilience.

Theoretical models for identifying these risks

But can we identify these risks more effectively? To facilitate this task, we will use as a reference the theoretical models that have determined our current understanding of these types of risks, and to which different dimensions are being incorporated as knowledge advances:

• The demand-control-social support model has shown the health effects resulting from the interaction between control over the content and conditions of work, and the physical, psychological or emotional demands of the activity and social support in the form of help from the organization and colleagues.
• The effort-reward model, which was incorporated later to complement the first one, acknowledges the health effects that rewards in the workplace can have, understanding these as professional recognition, salary, stability, opportunities for promotion or fair treatment - among others - and the effort that the work represents, a dimension that is defined by itself and can include the length of the workday, the conditions of the job, long commutes, difficulty of reconciling family life or conditions that determine a certain hardship in the development of the usual activity.

Antoni Calvo López

Director

Fundació Galatea

"Each work team should have its own emotional well-being plan."

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Ten types of psychosocial risks in the workplace

With this brief introduction, we can define the ten main types of psychosocial risks existing in the workplace , compiled thanks to the PRIMA-EF project, funded by the European Commission, and we urge the reader to position these risks in the models and dimensions mentioned above.

1. Workload and work pace: excessive or insufficient workload, pace set by a machine, high level of time pressure, work continuously governed by deadlines.
2. Job content: monotonous or short work cycles, fragmented or unproductive work, underutilization of skills, high level of uncertainty, continuous exposure to other people during work.
3. Control : limited participation in decision-making, inability to control workload, pace, shifts, etc.
4. Organizational culture and function: poor communication, reduced level of support for problem-solving and personal development, lack of precision or agreement regarding the organization's objectives.
5. Professional development: stagnation and professional uncertainty, excess or lack of promotion, low salary, job insecurity, reduced social value of work.
6. Environment and equipment: inadequate equipment, available equipment, suitability or maintenance, poor environmental conditions such as lack of space, poor lighting or excessive noise
7. Function in the organization: ambiguity of functions, conflicts between functions, responsibility of individuals.
8. Working hours: shift work, night shifts, rigid working hours, unpredictable hours, long working days or difficult to reconcile with social life.
9. Interrelationship between private and work life: conflict of needs between private and work life, lack of support at home, double presence problems.
10. Interpersonal relationships at work : social or physical exclusion or isolation, poor relationship with superiors, interpersonal conflicts, lack of social support, harassment, intimidation.

To conclude this brief overview, it is essential to emphasize the potential impact of inadequate risk management , as it can either enhance or hinder work performance and the quality of work life for those affected. A controlled and appropriate environment fosters employee development, retains talent, and improves productivity, while poor management or an inadequate approach has the opposite effect, harming individual well-being and health and impacting organizational activity and results.

The consequences of these risks materializing can have a clear individual impact in the form of stress, burnout or depression, among other forms of mental disorder, but also in the form of physical illness, with a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease or musculoskeletal processes, but it also has an effect on organizations that can translate into a higher rate of absenteeism, decreased productivity, increased accidents and even damage to brand image.

In summary, data from the Business Survey on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER) shows that "psychosocial risks are considered a greater and more difficult challenge to manage than 'traditional' risks to safety and health at work. It is necessary to raise awareness and provide practical and simple tools that facilitate the management of work-related stress, violence, and harassment."

In order to avoid going into too much detail, we refer to the Spanish Strategy for Safety and Health at Work (EESST) 2023-2027, which contains various alternatives for improving the management of psychosocial risks. These include improving information on psychosocial risk factors and developing indicators of psychosocial risk situations. These indicators will allow us to better understand which economic activities are most affected by these psychosocial risk factors and facilitate proactive preventive interventions in cases of deviation from occupational safety and health standards.