Campaign to fight job-related stress

An European Agency For Safety And Health At Work product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 5, 2002

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has launched a major campaign to combat work-related stress - the second biggest occupational health problem in the European Union after back pain.

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work has launched a major campaign to combat work-related stress - the second biggest occupational health problem in the European Union after back pain.

The initiative, which forms the heart of the Agency's annual European Week for Safety and Health at Work, will be the first EU-wide campaign to tackle work-related stress, a problem that is estimated to affect over 40 million employees in the EU.

According to a number of major studies, work-related stress affects nearly one-in-three (28%) workers in the EU's 15 member states.

Women report the highest levels, but for both sexes stress can be a problem in all sectors and at all levels of an organisation.

One of the most common causes is lack of control at work.

35% of employees, for instance, say they have no say in the order of their tasks and 55% claim no influence over how long they work.

Monotony, tight deadlines (29% of staff claim to work regularly to these) and bullying are some of the other factors that enter the equation.

The human costs are significant.

It is estimated that 16% of male and 22% of female cardiovascular diseases in the EU are due to work-related stress.

Other diseases and conditions associated with this issue include musculoskeletal disorders and mental health problems.

The economic costs are equally large.

Between 50 and 60% of absenteeism, for instance, has been related to work-related stress.

Together with allied health costs, the total annual bill to the EU is estimated to be around Eur 20 billion, not to mention loss of productivity.

"The changing world of work - and in particular the rise of job insecurity - has made work-related stress one of the biggest safety and health challenges facing today's businesses", says Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament.

"The European Parliament is fully committed to tackling this issue, as we showed in our recent resolution on workplace harassment, and welcomes the Agency's determination to give it the profile it deserves".

"Stress is a growing problem with massive human and financial costs, but it is not one we have to accept", says Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs.

"The Commission is convinced that work-related stress can and must be prevented.

However, we know that the only way it can be tackled effectively is by working together.

That means involving everyone: from policy makers to researchers to social partners to the individual workers themselves.

The Agency's campaign is an important step in this direction".

The campaign, which is being backed by all Member States, the European Commission and Parliament, trade unions and employers federations will run until October and end with the European Week for Safety and Health at Work.

Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, Director of the European Agency, adds: "Although the extent of this growing problem varies marginally between Member States, its causes are very similar across the EU, warranting an EU-wide campaign.

Our campaign, 'Working on Stress', will not only enable us to achieve economies of scale but more crucially allow us to draw on and disseminate examples of good practice for combating work-related stress across the EU.

No single country has the solution; together, however, we can make inroads into this costly human and economic problem".