Abstract
Psychosocial factors refers to aspects of work organization, design and management that include, among others, work demands, the availability of organizational support, rewards, and interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
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E.g. WHO – World Health Organization. PRIMA-EF: Guidance on the European Framework for Psychosocial Risk Management: A Resource for Employers and Worker Representatives. Protecting workers’ health series, 2008, no. 9. Geneva: World Health Organization.
- 2.
British Standards Institution (BSI) (2011). PAS1010: Guidance on the management of psychosocial risks in the workplace. London: BSI.
- 3.
See Leka, S., & Cox, T. Psychosocial risk management at the workplace level. In S. Leka & J. Houdmont (Eds.), Occupational Health Psychology. 2010, Chichester, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
- 4.
European Social Partners, Framework Agreement on Harassment and Violence at Work, 2007, Brussels: Social partners - ETUC, BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME and CEEP.
- 5.
Siegrist, J., Rosskam. E., & Leka, S. (Eds.) Review of Social Determinants of Health and the Health Divide in the WHO European Region: Employment and Working Conditions including Occupation, Unemployment and Migrant Workers. World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, 2015, Copenhagen.
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E.g. Bonde J.P.E. Psychosocial factors at work and risk of depression: a systematic review of the epidemiological evidence. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2008, 65, 438–445; Ndjaboué R, Brisson C, Vézina M. Organisational justice and mental health: a systematic review of prospective studies, 2012, Occupational and Environmental Medicine. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2011-100595.
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E.g. Tsutsumi A, Kawakami N. A review of empirical studies on the model of effort-reward imbalance at work: reducing occupational stress by implementing a new theory. Social Science & Medicine, 2004, 59, 2335–2359; Eller NH, Netterstrøm B, Gyntelberg F et al. Work-related psychosocial factors and the development of ischemic heart disease. Cardiology in Review, 2009, 17, 83–97; Kivimäki M, Virtanen M, Elovainio M et al. Work stress in the etiology of coronary heart disease – a meta-analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 2006, 32, 431–442; Marmot M, Siegrist J, Theorell T. Health and the psychosocial environment at work. In: Marmot M, Wilkinson RG (Eds.) Social Determinants of Health (pp. 97–130). 2006, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Leka, S., Jain, A., Iavicoli, S., Vartia. M., & Ertel, M. The role of policy for the management of psychosocial risks at the workplace in the European Union. Safety Science, 2011, 49(4), 558–564.
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Langenhan, M.K., Leka, S., & Jain, A. Psychosocial risks: Is risk management strategic enough in business and policy making? Safety & Health at Work, 2013, 4, 87–94.
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Member states have to implement them but it is up to them whether they will give them a binding status or not.
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Leka, S., Jain, A., Iavicoli, S., & Di Tecco, C. An evaluation of the policy context on psychosocial risks and mental health in the workplace in the European Union: Achievements, challenges and the future. BioMed Research International, Special issue on Psychosocial Factors and Workers’ Health & Safety, 2015 – open access – http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/213089.
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For instance see European Court of Justice (ECJ) 15 November 2001, Communities v Italy, Case C-49-00, European Court reports, 2001, p. I-0875, this ruling states that “The Italian Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 6(3)(a) and Articles 7(3), 7(5) and 7(8) of Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work” because the Italian Republic did not “requir[ed] employers to evaluate all health and safety risks existing in the workplace”; ECJ 14 June 2007, Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Case C-127-5, European Court reports, 2007, p. I-04619, this ruling questions the existence of the employer’s strict obligation to ensure, as a finality, the workers safety and health. From the ECJ’s standpoint, it is indeed possible to question the acceptance of the strict obligation to ensure the workers’ safety from this ruling. The ECJ has rejected the appeal by the European Commission against Great Britain that considered that the Directive of 12 June 1989 could not impose the strict obligation to ensure workers’ safety.
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Leka, S., Jain, A., Lerouge, L. (2017). Work-Related Psychosocial Risks: Key Definitions and an Overview of the Policy Context in Europe. In: Lerouge, L. (eds) Psychosocial Risks in Labour and Social Security Law. Aligning Perspectives on Health, Safety and Well-Being. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63065-6_1
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