“Managing work-related stress is one of the cornerstones in ensuring the health, safety and well-being of European workers. Workplaces cannot afford to ignore work-related stress, which increases absenteeism and lowers productivity,” says EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Ando. “The forthcoming EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at work 2014-20 will underline that better protection of workers' mental health is a key factor to prevent work-related diseases.”
EU-OSHA Director Christa Sedlatschek notes that the poll also found that more than 40% of employers consider psychosocial risks more difficult to manage than “traditional” occupational safety and health risks. “With this campaign, we want to raise awareness of the problem and provide support to manage psychosocial risks,” she explains. “Work-related stress is an organizational issue and should be tackled as such by employers and workers working together.”
The Healthy Workplaces Campaign will involve a range of activities, such as training sessions, conferences and workshops, poster, film and photo competitions, quizzes, suggestion schemes, advertising campaigns and press conferences. In addition, the European Good Practice Awards, which launches April 15, will highlight organizations that have implemented measures to reduce and eliminate stress.
Read more in the Campaign Guide and visit the Healthy Workplaces Campaign website to download campaign material in 25 languages. You can also follow the campaign with the hashtag #EUmanagestress on Twitter.