According to an occupational psychologist David Büchel, psychosocial risk factors are often simplistically summarised as ‘stress at work’ when in fact, stress at work is just the manifestation of these risks.
“Stress at work is a reaction of the body to psychosocial risk factors (PSRs) that cover occupational risks of various origins and nature,” explains Büchel. “In summary, high psychological demands at work, for example informational and emotional overload, lack of time, frequent schedule changes, low control over the work situation, and lack of social support from colleagues or supervisors can be described as psychosocial risk factors.
If a situation of stress and the exposure to PSR factors persist over a long period of time or is repeated frequently, the risk of burnout, high blood pressure, or depression increases.
”Burnout is expressed by physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, a profound disinterest in the content of one’s work and the depreciation of one’s own results,” Büchel says.
“In my opinion it is always better to work collectively in an organization to prevent problems.”
David Büchel
Stress at work is a reaction of the body to psychosocial risk factors
While mental health issues are hard for the individuals facing them, Büchel reminds that psychosocial risks also generate immediate and delayed effects on the overall performance of the company.
According to Büchel, the problem with the concept of “mental health” as a catch-all term is that it ignores the distinction between mental health problems that exist prior to work integration and those that arise from psychosocial risk factors in the workplace, for example reactive depression and burnout. When focusing on the mental illness rather than on the causes that may influence it, the concept contributes to the individualization of the problem, and as a result, the measures advocated are not collective but individual (for example, stress management) and not preventive but curative (for example, medication).
“In my opinion it is always better to work collectively in an organization to prevent problems,” says Büchel. “This gives more stable results in the long term, compared to limiting oneself to a ‘remedial’ and individualistic approach, which is less stable in the long term and does not prevent others from being affected by the same problems. Furthermore, it is always better and more sustainable to adapt work to people rather than people to work.”
“Without having to embark on heavy preventive measures, it pays to invest in occupational safety and health prevention.”
David Büchel
Psychosocial risks at work are costly to business
Besides the harm done to individuals, the psychosocial risks at work result in considerable costs.
“The costs come from more declarations of work incapacity presenteeism, where people come to work when they are not in good physical or psychological shape; more accidents at work because the work cannot be done well; more incidents and conflicts between employees, with management or customers; increasing demotivation of staff; increased staff turnover; poor quality of products or services; deterioration of the company’s image; and loss of customers,” says Büchel.
According to Büchel, putting in place preventive measures to avoid the accumulation and repetition of stressors that eventually lead to psychological damage should therefore not frighten employers because without them the costs that occur are even greater.
“Without having to embark on heavy preventive measures, it pays to invest in occupational safety and health prevention,” Büchel reminds. “According to a report by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) from 2014, 1 euro invested by an organisation in a prevention and mental health promotion programme leads to a net benefit of up to 13 euros.”
