Commission welcomes EU-wide campaign to manage stress at work
8 Apr 2014 03:27 PM
Stress is one of
the most frequently reported work-related health problem in Europe and is
believed to be the cause of the majority of all lost working days. The EC
therefore welcomes the "Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress" campaign
launched this week to raise awareness about the psychological, physical and
social risks linked to stress at work.
Addressing stress and
psychosocial risks is one of the challenges covered by the forthcoming EU
Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020, due to be presented
in June.
European Commissioner for
Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor
said: "Work-related stress not only takes a high toll on
employees' well-being, but also adversely affects the overall performance
of European companies. Stress can and should be managed, and employers and
workers organisations must work together to better protect and promote mental
health at work. I welcome the fact that this new campaign will focus on
reducing the damage done by stress at work."
Workers affected by stress find
it difficult to concentrate, make more mistakes and are subject to more
frequent accidents at work. Prolonged psychological pressure may result in
serious health problems such as cardiovascular or musculoskeletal diseases,
leading to poor working performance and more absenteeism.
The campaign aims to help
employers’ and workers’ representatives, managers and workers to
identify and manage stress and psychological, physical and social risks in the
workplace. It also promotes the use of simple tools which can help
organisations to effectively manage such risks. Reducing stress at work helps
to create a healthy work environment in which workers feel valued, where the
workplace culture is more positive, and, consequently, business productivity
improves.
Background
Healthy Workplaces Campaign
2014–2015 ‘Manage Stress’ is run by the European Agency for Safety and
Health at Work (EU-OSHA). The campaign will build partnerships with
employer and trade union organisations committed to promoting practices to
manage work-related stress and psychosocial risks across Europe. All
organisations are invited to support this action and become official campaign partners. The Healthy Workplaces
Campaign is also backed by the EU institutions and the European social
partners.
A key activity will be the
European Good Practice Award, to be launched on 15 April 2014. Applications are
encouraged from all European organisations who are successfully implementing
measures to reduce extreme strain to workers.
The campaign guide helps employers, managers,
workers and workers’ representatives to recognise and manage stress and
psychosocial risks in the workplace.
The campaign
toolkit provides a collection of resources and examples to help raise
awareness and increase understanding of such risks.
For more information
Healthy
Workplaces Campaign
Follow the hashtag #EUmanagestress on Twitter
László Andor's
website
Follow
László Andor on Twitter
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