In Spain, the Law 31/1995 on Occupational Risk Prevention (LPRL) establishes that all companies, regardless of their size or sector, must plan preventive actions for psychosocial risks based on an initial assessment of risks to both the physical and mental safety and health of all workers.
Workplace risks are interconnected and do not occur in isolation. So, it’s important to understand how mental and emotional health issues are related to other risks, such as physical ones.
In this post, we’ll review what psychosocial risks are and how to evaluate them for prevention.
What are psychosocial risks?
Psychosocial risks are work conditions that are related to how the company is organized, the social environment, and the tasks performed. These conditions influence the way work is done and the health of the worker, both physically and mentally, as well as socially.
If these conditions are negative, they can cause inappropriate behaviors and attitudes and affect the health and well-being of employees.
The ILO and WHO defined these factors as:
“Conditions present in a work situation related to the organization, content, and execution of work, which are likely to affect both the physical, mental, or social well-being and health of workers, as well as the development of work.”
What are the psychosocial risk factors?
Currently, there is no official classification to determine which psychosocial risks employees may face in an organization.
However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a list. In fact, there’s a technical and scientific consensus, based on theoretical models and empirical evidence, about what constitutes a psychosocial risk and what doesn’t.
According to PRIMA EF, these are the psychosocial risk factors to pay attention to:
1. Job Content
This factor relates to the design and meaning of work tasks. It includes risks such as monotonous, fragmented, or undervalued tasks, or tasks that are emotionally demanding, as well as mismatches between the job demands and the worker’s abilities.
2. Workload and Work Pace
This refers to the amount and quality of work, including excessive or insufficient workloads, fast work paces, strict deadlines, and high levels of attention required, as well as interruptions and lack of support from colleagues or supervisors.
3. Working Hours
This factor covers the duration and distribution of working hours, including night shifts, long or irregular hours, lack of adequate breaks, and difficulties balancing work and personal life.
4. Participation and Control
This refers to the employee’s ability to participate in decision-making and exert control over their work. Risks include low autonomy, lack of control over workload and pace, and inadequate communication tools.
5. Role Performance
This relates to the definition of roles and responsibilities, with risks such as poorly defined goals, role conflicts, role overload or insufficiency, and inappropriate additional responsibilities.
6. Career Development
This includes aspects such as promotion and growth within the organization: risks of professional stagnation, job insecurity, imbalance between effort and reward, and lack of recognition, among others.
7. Interpersonal Relationships / Social Support
This involves relationships in the work environment, with risks such as inadequate social support, poor interpersonal relationships, conflicts, violence, discrimination, and poor conflict management.
8. Work Equipment and Exposure to Other Risks
This covers problems related to the use and functioning of equipment, tools, and technologies, as well as adverse physical environments and exposure to hazardous substances.
What is a psychosocial risk assessment?
A psychosocial risk assessment, as the name implies, is a complex and structured process used to identify and analyze conditions in the workplace that may be affecting the mental and emotional health of the team.
As we’ve seen, these conditions include aspects such as work organization, the tasks performed, relationships between colleagues and managers, or the workload and work pace.
The main goal of these interventions is to detect factors that could cause stress, anxiety, or discomfort among employees and find ways to improve the environment to make it healthier and safer.
Why is it necessary to conduct a psychosocial risk assessment?
Beyond legislative requirements, poor management of psychosocial factors has highly negative effects on both employees and the company, manifesting in various ways.
These effects are not limited to problems like depression and anxiety. In fact, exposure to high levels of stress can lead to more severe health issues if not addressed in time.
For example, a study published in BMJ found that even low levels of psychological distress are linked to an increased risk of mortality from all causes, including cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Similarly, another study reviewed in Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine indicates that psychosocial stress directly influences the onset of heart disease. In this case, elevated metabolic activity in the amygdala, a brain region involved in the perception of stress, has been identified as an independent predictor of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks.
And if your team’s health isn’t enough reason, don’t forget that their condition impacts organizational performance: increased absenteeism, decreased productivity, more production errors, or high employee turnover are just some of the negative consequences for the company.
Steps to conduct a psychosocial risk assessment in the company
To evaluate psychosocial risks, a series of essential phases must be followed to identify, analyze, and mitigate factors affecting workers’ health and well-being.
Here’s a step-by-step guide:
1. Identification of risk factors
First, identify the risk factors. In this phase, it is crucial to precisely and clearly define the problems to be investigated and their various aspects.
As mentioned before, different elements of the work interact with each other, meaning they must be addressed considering their implications and relationships with other factors involved.
Doing so allows for discovering the real causes of problems and formulating effective strategies for their elimination or control.
2. Selection of methodology and research techniques
The choice of appropriate techniques depends on the specific problem being evaluated, the study’s objectives, and the characteristics of the employee group to which it will be applied.
For this reason, using a combination of quantitative methods, such as surveys, and qualitative methods, like in-depth interviews, is a common practice to ensure a thorough and accurate evaluation.
That said, there are several methods to assess psychosocial factors in the workplace, each with its specific focus and scope. Here are the most widely used:
Global Methods for Evaluating Working Conditions
These methods include the evaluation of psychosocial risks along with other work factors. They originated in France in the 1970s, and some prominent examples include:
- LEST (Laboratory of Economics and Sociology of Work)
- Job Profile
- ANACT (National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions)
Global Methods for Evaluating Psychosocial Factors
These methods have been developed by organizations related to occupational health and research, such as public bodies, unions, universities, and prevention services. Among the most widely applied methods are:
- INSHT (National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health): Method described in the NTP 443.
- ISTAS (Union Institute of Work, Environment, and Health): Method described in the NTP 703.
Specific Methods for Psychosocial Factors
These methods analyze specific factors or areas related to the psychosocial domain. Some examples include:
- Role Conflict and Ambiguity Scale
- Maslach Burnout Inventory
- LIPT (Leymann Inventory of Psychological Terrorization)
Additionally, this group includes psychological tests applicable to a deeper understanding of specific situations, such as personality questionnaires and skills tests (e.g., attention, memory, etc.).
Perceived Health Questionnaires
These questionnaires focus on measuring the general health status of workers, including psychological, mental, and physical limitations due to illness, social relationships, pain, and bodily well-being. Some of the best-known questionnaires are:
- Langner and Amiel Total Health Test (see NTP 421)
- Nottingham Health Profile (NHP)
- General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)
- SF-36
3. Planning and conducting fieldwork
This phase involves gathering the necessary data directly from the workplace, which requires coordination with employees to ensure their cooperation and willingness to participate in surveys and interviews.
This stage requires special care, as the quality of the data could be affected if the process is not managed properly.
To avoid surprises, it’s recommended to inform team members about the nature of the evaluation and set the appropriate time and place for interviews and surveys, which should be conducted in a comfortable and relaxed environment.
4. Analysis of results and report preparation
In this phase of the evaluation process, the goal is to identify the underlying and real causes of the problems, beyond the evident or superficial ones.
Therefore, it will be necessary to delve deeper into the organizational, environmental, and personal factors that contribute to the workers’ discomfort.
For example, a study published in Occupational Medicine showed that combining mental health questionnaires with in-depth interviews allowed researchers to identify not only the level of stress among workers but also the main sources of that stress, such as unclear job expectations and insufficient support from supervisors.
Thoroughness is essential since this step helps determine the necessary actions to prevent, control, or reduce these risks.
5. Development and implementation of an intervention program
Once the results are analyzed, an intervention program is developed and implemented. This phase involves discussing the results with social partners and agreeing on improvement proposals.
Planning, implementing, and monitoring the agreed actions are crucial to effectively correcting the existing situation and improving working conditions.
6. Monitoring and controlling implemented measures
Finally, monitoring and controlling the implemented measures ensure that the actions are effective. It’s necessary to regularly assess and control the interventions to check whether the expected correction is being achieved. Since the validity of solutions may diminish over time, new interventions may be required to continually maintain and improve working conditions.
How to prevent psychosocial risks?
Preventive measures can be varied and affect not only organizational conditions. Depending on the group of action, the following are the most common measures:
- Prevention at the source: These measures should be prioritized over other types of interventions. Their goal is to eliminate or reduce exposure to risk by modifying stressors at the company or workplace level. Using pulse surveys is a great proactive way to detect latent problems.
- Measures to increase resources or resilience of exposed individuals: These measures aim to increase personal resources (individually or collectively) for individuals already exposed, protecting them against potentially stressful work situations.
- Therapeutic measures for affected individuals: These are aimed at protecting and treating individuals who are already showing effects from psychosocial risks.
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