Volgens de Internationale Arbeidsorganisatie (IAO, 2005) kunnen psychosociale problemen leiden tot ziekte, blessures, stigmatisatie, isolatie en zelfs tot de dood. Zulke problemen kunnen grote gevolgen hebben voor de werkgever – verminderde productiviteit en demotivatie. Het personeel in de gezondheidszorg wordt regelmatig blootgesteld aan geestelijke gezondheidsrisico's (Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie (WHO), 2004). Daarom is het belangrijk en erg nuttig om in deze sector te investeren in de geestelijke gezondheid.
In 2009, EU-OSHA carried out the first Europe-wide establishment survey on health and safety at the workplace, the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER).
Following on from the initial analysis presented in the descriptive overview report in 2010, four secondary analysis projects have been carried out in 2011. This report focuses on management of safety and health at work, examining how practices vary across Europe depending on, for example, establishment size, location and sector.
Over the last decades both, men and women, have experienced an increase in demands from free time, working life and household demands. Work-life balance has become an often used term with regard to these changes. Finding the right balance concerning time, satisfaction and psychological involvement constitutes a great challenge. The following e-fact gives an overview on the topic, by describing the situation in Europe and giving practical advice to both, employees and employers.
One conclusion from the EU-OSHA economic incentives project is that incentives schemes should not only reward past results of good OSH management (such as accident numbers in experience rating), but should also reward specific prevention efforts that aim to reduce future accidents and ill-health. Experts from the economic incentives project therefore suggested the development of compilations of innovative and evidence-based preventive solutions, starting with the three sectors construction, health care and HORECA (hotels, restaurants, catering). The preventive measures from these compilations are worth promoting in their own right, as well as being applied in economic incentives schemes. These preventive solutions can be used as a basis for incentive-providing organisations to develop their own incentive scheme, adapted to the specific situation in their sector and country.