IMPROVING HEALTH AT THE WORKPLACE
Psychological and mental stress - how to recognise, reduce and prevent it
Increasingly, companies want to use corporate health management methods in order to maintain and improve the health of their workforce. More attention is now also being paid to mental and psychological strain and stress, as these are critical factors when assessing health risks. But how can such strain and stress be recognised and reduced? And how can it be done efficiently without giving rise to excessive expense?
The MPI (Medical and Psychological Institute) of TÜV NORD provides the answer in the form of a three-stage procedure which helps every organisation to find the right concept for their particular needs and situation:
- An occupational health practitioner or an expert in the field of occupational health and safety at work assesses the stress of employees based on general evaluation procedures.
- The stress is measured by an occupational health practitioner in greater depth. Tests are performed to establish if stress has already occurred because of stressful experiences, mental saturation or other negative influences that affect employees' ability and readiness to perform well.
- If the problems are considered severe, mental and psychological strain and stress are recorded using the comprehensive procedure known as moderated risk assessment.
What is moderated risk assessment?
During moderated risk assessment, mental and psychological strain and stress are systematically recorded and measures to reduce them are considered, developed, agreed upon, implemented and their success evaluated.
Experienced industrial psychologists from TÜV NORD moderate workshops attended by members of the organisation's management, along with employees' representatives and also the employees who will be particularly involved in the stress measurements.
Procedures are used which fulfil the specified quality criteria. Qualitative methods of inquiry make it easier to draw conclusions regarding effective interventions for stress reduction.
What does moderated risk assessment achieve?
By combining diagnostics, recommendation of possibilities for intervention and their subsequent evaluation, moderated risk assessment makes it possible to reduce mental and psychological strain and stress effectively and sustainably.
This - along with the fact that their own specific proposals for improvements are implemented as far as possible - means that employees gain greater satisfaction from their work. Enhanced capability and readiness to perform generally go hand in hand with perceptible improvements in productivity, sales and profits.
Objectivity, independence and neutrality
... are absolutely essential, and all engineers, occupational health practitioners and industrial psychologists who undertake assessments are obliged to maintain them. This is of great importance both for management and for employee representatives. The assurance of objectivity, independence and neutrality means that the data collected is reliable and comprehensive, and that all interventions suitable and necessary in order to sustainably reduce mental and psychological stress and strain are in fact proposed.
We offer practical support!
The team at the MPI of TÜV NORD Mobilität GmbH & Co. KG will be there to help you with all the stages involved in preparation, performance and implementation of the moderated risk assessment - offering both advice and practical assistance.
