Psychosocial Risks: Workloads and Resources
Designing work to promote health and motivation by means of risk assessments
Psychosocial risks can arise from stressful aspects of work design and organisation (e.g. unclear priorities, lack of room for manoeuvre) as well as from an unfavourable social environment at work (e.g. conflicts) and result in considerable human and financial costs.
Since the launch of the “Psychosocial Risks” focus area by SECO in 2014, prevention efforts in Switzerland have greatly increased. In Germany, “Psychological Risk Assessment” has been enshrined in law since 2013. This raises the question for occupational health and safety professionals how they can analyse psychological stress.
In order to comply with the statutory regulations for the protection of employees, we develop and evaluate new measuring tools and approaches in close cooperation with organisations. Together with partner organisations, we are working on how to minimise psychosocial risks and strengthen resources by making adjustments to work design and organisation and social interaction. The analysis and the derivation of measures are based on current research findings and, in turn, contribute to an increase in knowledge regarding psychosocial risks.
Selected Publications
- Berset, M., Deufel, A., Dorsemagen, C. & Krause, A. (2016). Partizipative Auseinandersetzung mit psychosozialen Risiken im Unternehmen: Analyse, Workshops und ein Train-the-Trainer-Konzept als Beitrag zur gesundheitsförderlichen Organisationsentwicklung. In M. A. Pfannstiel & H. Mehlich (Hrsg.), Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement (S. 91-110). Wiesbaden: Springer Gabler. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-11581-4_7
- Dettmers, J. & Krause, A. (2020). Der Fragebogen zur Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastungen (FGBU). Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie, 64(2), 99-119
- Krause, A. (2014). Beispiele für Maßnahmen zur Verminderung von Zeit- und Leistungsdruck. In Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin (Hrsg.), Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastung. Erfahrungen und Empfehlungen (S. 98–101). Berlin: Erich Schmidt Verlag.