Scale, importance, and relevance to companies of mental stress at work

Status:

completed 12/2004

Aims:

The increase in mental stress and its potentially negative influence upon health is a topic of discussion among the wider public, and increasingly also among OH&S professionals. The evidence found in the specialist literature is however not entirely clear. For this reason, the IGA initiative on health and work has conducted a study into how OH&S experts assess the subject of "mental stress". An online survey was developed, i.e. a survey accessible over the Internet, for consultation of OH&S experts (safety professionals, safety inspectors, company physicians, health promoters, and scientific experts, in particular psychologists). The in-plant OH&S experts were targeted in particular, i.e. the safety professionals, safety inspectors, and company physicians. The experts were to answer the questions in the light of their professional experience.

Activities/Methods:

The survey was conducted among safety professionals, labour inspectors, company physicians, and researchers (particularly psychologists).

Results:

The results show that the OH&S experts surveyed consider the subject of mental stress/strain to be highly relevant. Mental strain arises in particular in the areas of "work organization" and "social interaction". Positive effects of mental stress at work are however also observed. The results of the study were published in IGA report No. 5.

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