Personal tools
Skip to content. Search FAQ Help About us

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work

OSHA Network

Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

You are here: Home → NEWS → 2002.11.25: Stress at work must and can be prevented

2002.11.25: Stress at work must and can be prevented

Twenty companies from across Europe will receive awards in recognition of their innovative approaches to preventing workplace psychosocial risks and stress at an awards ceremony to be held in the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on Monday 25th November 2002.
Award-winning schemes include:

  • A low-cost project using risk management that prevented potential stress arising from a plant-commissioning project (BP Scotland);
  • A scheme to prevent post-traumatic stress for air-traffic controllers (Nav Portugal);
    A Dutch hospital’s programme for a safer hospital that resulted in a 30% decrease in physical violence (the Westfries Gasthuis);
  • The introduction of a healthy and successful work organisation at a call centre in Germany (Stadtsparkasse Hannover).

Also included among the commended schemes was an initiative run by the Athens 2004 Organising Committee, to tackle psychosocial risks in the run-up to the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic games.

Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the scheme’s organisers, commented:

“Work-related stress affects more than 40 million workers and is costing the EU an estimated 20 billion euro in absenteeism and related health costs every year - psychosocial risks hurt society and individuals. The good news is, that psychosocial problems can be prevented, as the real business cases that will receive a European award or have been commended clearly document. We hope that their example will inspire other private and public organisations, managers and workers to follow up with similar successful prevention efforts.”

This is the third year of the awards, which come under the umbrella of the annual European Week for Safety and Health at Work. The examples are from 13 EU Member States and include small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, large companies and intermediary organisations operating in very different sectors. The awards will be presented at the closing ceremony of the European Week taking place on Monday 25 November in the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao.

ENDS

Further information

Further information on the closing event and the European Week 2002 can be found at http://osha.europa.eu/ew2002/).

Photos of the closing event will be available from 26 November on the Agency site. Please click here.

A comprehensive press pack on the Agency’s campaign on stress at work is available at http://osha.europa.eu/ew2002/presspack/

European Week reports and fact sheets are available in the ‘information resources’ section of the European Week website at http://osha.europa.eu/ew2002/

Notes for the press:

- Attendance at the conference is by invitation only. Contact the Agency press office for a press pass.Press conference: On Monday 25 November at 12.30 p.m. there will be a press conference with leading conference participants in the auditorium of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao.

Press contact: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Andrew Smith, Tel: +34 94 479 5733 email: smith@osha.europa.eu, or Eke Heetveld, Tel: +34 94 479 43 86 email: heetveld@osha.europa.eu
Other enquiries: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Gran Via 33, E-48009 Bilbao, Spain, email: information@osha.europa.eu, fax: +34 94 479 4383

Notes to editors

Background to the Agency and the European Week

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.

The European Week for Safety and Health at Work which has taken place during October 2002 is an information campaign designed to raise awareness and promote activities to make Europe a safe and healthy place to work. It is coordinated by the European Agency and run in the Member States, EFTA and EU candidate countries in October 2002 with each country deciding the precise week. The European Week is aimed at the workplace and all safety and health institutions and organisations, trade unions, companies, managers, employees and safety representatives were invited to take part and organise their own activities. These included special audits and risk assessment activities in the workplace, organising training, distributing information material, launching a new workplace policy, suggestion schemes, encouraging participation of employees and their representatives or linking-up with other organisations, businesses or sub contractors to carry out activities in partnership. The slogan of the European Week is "Working on Stress".

Awarded - Workplace / enterprise level

  • Skovgården, (Denmark): Prevention of stress and burnout among teachers.
  • Stadtsparkasse Hannover (Germany): Introduction of a healthy and successful work organisation at a call centre .
  • HYKS, Jorvi Hospital (Finland): Jorvi Hospital’s model for planning work rotas autonomously.
  • Amiens Urban Public Transport Company (France): Implementation of a prevention plan for risks relating to third party violence in an urban public transport company.
  • NAV-PORTUGAL (Navegação Aérea de Portugal-E.P.): Managing stress following critical incidents in air traffic control work.
  • Dow Benelux B.V. (the Netherlands): Stress prevention and welfare programme in the chemical industry.
  • Sectorfondsen Zorg en Welzijn (the Netherlands): Programme for a safer hospital: ‘Safe care’.
  • BP Grangemouth – Applied Technology Group (Scotland): Simple steps to prevent stress at work: effective employee involvement in risk management.
  • Llar D´Ancians De Calvia (Spain): Stress prevention in an old people’s home.

Awarded - Special award: Intermediary level / campaigns

  • Gemeinschaftsinitiative Gesünder Arbeiten e.V: (Germany): GiGA – the Joint Initiative for Healthier Work – and its regional information campaign on work-related stress and bullying.
  • Health and Safety Authority (Ireland): Intermediary strategy for prevention of workplace bullying.

Commended - Workplace / enterprise level

  • RHI AG, (Austria): Training for managers on management styles to reduce stress at work.
  • Outokumpu Poricopper Oy (Finland): Guidelines on prevention of psychological violence and intervention measures.
  • Organising Committee for the Olympic Games ‘ATHENS 2004’ S.A.: ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games - Managing stress and psychosocial risks.
  • ATM – SATTI / FILT-CGIL/ UIL-Trasporti / FIT-CISL (Italy): ‘Work culture agreement’ to tackle harassment, bullying and discrimination.
  • Debenhams Retail PLC (UK): Preventing work-related violence in the retail sector.
  • Swedish National Labour Market Board: Stress programme in progress at the Swedish National Labour Market Board.
  • Mid-Western Regional Hospitals (Ireland): The management of violence against staff in the healthcare sector.

Commended - Special commendation: Intermediary level / campaigns

  • Occupational Safety and Health inspectorate of Uusimaa (Finland): Model designed by a safety district for handling bullying cases.
  • Midland Health Board (Ireland): ‘Work Positive’ - piloting the use of a work stress audit tool suitable for SMEs.