How Companies Can Protect the Mental Health of Their Employees
Risk assessments of psychological stress are an important part of occupational safety. They serve to protect and promote the health of employees in companies. Potential psychological hazards in the workplace are recorded and assessed in order to be able to derive targeted measures to optimize stress or to avoid incorrect stress.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (§ 5, III, 6 ArbSchG), employers are obliged to protect and promote the health of their employees. This also includes carrying out psychological risk assessments. The risk assessments must be repeated after a significant change in working conditions. Repeat surveys at intervals of 2-4 years are recommended.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act contains in §§ 2-6 specifications for the humane design of the workplace taking into account the needs of the employees, which are further expanded by §§ 15, 16 and 17 ArbSchG through the personal involvement of the employees. For many companies, this is seen as a tedious chore and not as an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the corporate culture.
Incorrect workloads can relate to various aspects, such as constant time pressure, inadequate information or conflicts with colleagues and superiors. These incorrect workloads can have long-term negative effects on health, ranging from physical complaints (e.g. gastrointestinal diseases) to serious mental illnesses such as burnout, depression or anxiety disorders. In addition to the individual problems, this usually leads to reduced productivity and the long-term absence of skilled workers.
There are various methods for recording mental stress in the workplace, such as interviews, surveys or observations. Both employees and their superiors should be questioned. Cubia AG supports its customers with scientific consultants in the design of company-specific questionnaires.
After the stresses have been recorded, they must be evaluated and measures taken to optimize the stresses. This can be achieved, for example, by adapting working conditions, training or supervision. In the sense of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, however, it is initially only about the working conditions.
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Overall, carrying out risk assessments of psychological stress is an important part of occupational safety. They help to protect the health of employees. It is important to emphasize that the implementation of measures and the continuation of risk assessments should not be viewed as a one-off activity, but as an ongoing process that must be continuously reviewed and adjusted. In order to protect the health of employees in the long term, it is essential that both employers and employees accept their responsibility for this and work together to create a healthy working environment.
Another important issue is promoting employee resilience. Resilience refers to a person’s ability to deal with and recover from stress and challenges. Companies can support their employees by giving them the opportunity to strengthen their skills and resources and by providing them with the support and attention they need. The obligation to carry out a risk assessment of psychological stress can therefore be used as an opportunity – also by expanding it to include questions from a general employee survey – to improve the well-being of employees and increase the company’s performance and productivity.
Open communication and a feedback culture are essential. Employees should be able to express their concerns and issues regarding their psychological stress and other work-related issues openly and without fear of consequences. In this way, companies can identify at an early stage which stresses are affecting employees and take targeted measures. An anonymous survey is an excellent tool for this.
We are happy to support you with our survey services and our expertise. Contact us now and get a non-binding offer or consultation.
You can find further information on the subject of psychological risk assessment on this website or on our specialist portal mitarbeiterbefragungen.comOpen in new tab in a blog article by our scientific partner Prof. Dr. Roland Hormel: Risk Assessment of Psychological Stress: Compulsory Exercise or Opportunity for Cultural ChangeOpen in new tab