How can psychosocial risks be prevented in the workplace?

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Psychosocial risks (PSR) pose a threat to employee mental health and require special attention. In this article, discover the employer's primary obligations for preventing psychosocial risks in the workplace.

Psychosocial risks: definition and challenges

Psychosocial risks (PSR) encompass all the psychological issues that employees may experience in the course of their work. The psychological well-being of employees is sometimes overlooked and may even be hidden by the individuals themselves. These risks are therefore difficult to identify, making their prevention a delicate matter.

PSR often stem from work situations that are not well-suited to the employees. The Ministry of Labor identifies four main types of PSR:

• stress, caused by demands placed on employees that are too high relative to the resources and time allocated to them;
• internal workplace violence such as harassment or conflict;
• external violence directed at employees by people outside the company;
• professional burnout syndrome, also known as "burn-out," which is characterized by an exhaustion of psychological capacity, generally leading to an immediate need to cease all professional activity.

These various risks can accumulate and interfere with one another, triggering a negative chain reaction for both employees and the company.

The link between PSR and other occupational risks

Psychosocial risks can also be exacerbated by other occupational hazards to which employees are exposed.

Indeed, occupational hazards create a mental and psychological burden that fosters a harmful or restrictive work environment. The reverse is also true: psychosocial risks increase other occupational hazards within the company due to the fatigue, loss of concentration, and loss of interest they can generate.

The stakes of psychosocial risks are therefore multifaceted and more significant than they appear. Beyond the importance of preserving employees' mental health, preventing psychosocial risks also helps reduce the risk of accidents in the workplace.

It is therefore vital for the company's health to consider the link between psychosocial risks and all other occupational hazards. In practical terms, the employer must take into account the entire organization of the company and its constituent elements when developing psychosocial risk prevention (Article L4121-3 of the French Labor Code).

💡 A study conducted by the National Research and Safety Institute (INRS) in 2010 estimated the social cost of work-related stress at between 1.9 and 3 billion euros in France (!).

How can psychosocial risk prevention be implemented in the workplace?

What are the employer's obligations regarding the prevention of psychosocial risks?

The Labor Code requires employers to protect the mental health of their employees (Article L.4121-1). To prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace, it is necessary to follow the steps outlined in the general principles of occupational risk prevention (Article L.4121-2 of the Labor Code):

• avoid risks whenever possible;
• assess risks ;
• understand and combat risks at the source;
• prioritize collective prevention measures over individual prevention measures;
• adapt the mental workload for employees, particularly to reduce stress;
• prevent risks by addressing work organization, working conditions, social and interpersonal relationships, the work environment, and more.

Employers must also update the Single Occupational Risk Assessment Document (DUERP) by including the psychosocial risks to which employees are exposed. This update must be carried out during the analysis of occupational risks, following a work-related health issue, or in the event of a complaint. It is also required when a workplace accident reveals new risks within the company or in the event of a formal alert (Article L4121-3-1 of the Labor Code).

Finally, the employer is required to provide safety training and training on job-specific risks for (Article L.4141-2 of the French Labor Code) :

• newly hired employees;
• employees changing jobs or techniques;
• temporary staff;
• employees returning to work after an absence of at least twenty-one days, at the request of the occupational physician.

This training may be renewed periodically depending on the requirements of the position or collective agreements. Indeed, some jobs involve a heavy mental workload and may therefore require specific training for managing psychological aspects.

💡 Employees must be informed of the health and safety risks they are exposed to in the course of their work, as well as the measures implemented to address them (Article L.4141-1 of the French Labor Code).

What are the different steps for preventing psychosocial risks?

The prevention of psychosocial risks generally follows four steps:

• risk assessment;
• action plan development;
• implementation of actions;
• monitoring of implemented actions.

It may be necessary to assemble a multidisciplinary team to effectively implement psychosocial risk prevention. Ideally, this team should consist of members from various departments within the company who can provide a diverse perspective on the work situations being analyzed. It is worth noting that the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) must contribute to the analysis of the risks to which employees are exposed (Article L4121-3 of the French Labor Code).

Avoiding and assessing risks

To prevent psychosocial risks, it is necessary to analyze the various risk factors associated with job roles within the company. These risk factors encompass all mental burdens, stress, or violence that workers may experience.

These factors are generally grouped into several categories:

• Biomechanical factors (gestures, posture, excessive physical strain, etc.);
• Environmental factors (temperature, noise, lighting, vibration exposure, etc.);
• Organizational factors (work schedules, workplace organization, necessary recovery time, etc.);
• Cognitive factors (excessive cognitive demand, stress, production requirements, customer interaction, etc.);
• Individual factors (gender, age, physical condition, etc.).

Risk assessment involves analyzing workstations in relation to the risk factors mentioned above. As part of psychosocial risk prevention, it is necessary to pay particular attention to cognitive and organizational factors.

Development and implementation of preventive actions

An action plan must be established to best organize the prevention of psychosocial risks. To ensure monitoring of prevention and its effectiveness, this action plan is generally accompanied by a schedule with deadlines to be met for its implementation.

Psychosocial risk prevention actions are specific to each company and each workstation. These actions must be defined based on the professional risk assessment and the data collected in the DUERP. This will generally involve addressing organizational and relational aspects, as well as the mental workload associated with workstations.

Actions concerning work organization, which are generally less complex to implement, often significantly alleviate stress, mental workload, and the mental health of workers.

Examples:

• implementing breaks ;
• whenever possible, rotating employees through different roles to avoid repetitive work;
• adjusting schedules to allow for sufficient rest time ;
• reorganizing the workspace to facilitate the tasks to be performed;
• adjusting the pace of work to limit long-term risk factors ;
• reducing productivity demands;
• protecting employees from environmental hazards ;

Mental workload can be effectively reduced by using tools to facilitate work and ease cognitive demands (pre-filled forms, task-specific software, efficient labeling, optimal workstation organization, etc.).

It is also possible to protect employees from a work environment that is detrimental to morale by using tools for protection against environmental hazards (hearing protection, safety glasses, etc.).

Finally, It is important to manage workplace relationships to reduce conflict or violence among staff.

💡 Occupational health services can play a key role in defining and implementing these measures. They can also assess their effectiveness by monitoring the actions taken and their results.

What are the regulations regarding harassment?

Moral and sexual harassment, as well as sexist behavior, are among the leading causes of psychosocial risks in the workplace. They are also considered an occupational hazard and must therefore be included in the professional risk assessment and documented in the DUERP (Article L4121-2 of the French Labor Code).

Indeed, the mental health of employees who are victims of harassment or sexist behavior can deteriorate, potentially leading to depressive disorders that render the victim unable to work. Consequently, the Labor Code requires employers to prevent and put an end to sexist behavior, as well as moral and sexual harassment (Article L1152-4 of the French Labor Code and Article L1153-5 of the French Labor Code).

Here are the employer's main regulatory obligations for combating moral and sexual harassment in the workplace:

Moral harassment

●  take all necessary measures to prevent moral harassment (Article L1152-4 of the French Labor Code) ;

●   inform employees about the risks of moral harassment;

●  organize a mediation procedure with the agreement of both parties (Article L1152-6 of the French Labor Code).

Sexual harassment

●  prevent, put an end to, and sanction acts of sexual harassment (Article L1153-5 of the French Labor Code) ;

●  post information regarding the criminal provisions of Article 222-33 in the premises where hiring takes place;

●  inform victims of sexual harassment about the criminal provisions of Article 222-33 and sexual harassment helplines;

●  establish or join an occupational health and prevention service (Article L4622-2 of the French Labor Code) ;

●  in companies with at least 50 employees, the company's internal regulations must outline the provisions regarding sexual harassment and sexist behavior (Article L1321-2 of the French Labor Code) ;

●  in companies with at least 250 employees, a company harassment officer must be appointed (Article L1153-5-1 of the French Labor Code) ;

●  appoint a harassment officer to the Social and Economic Committee (CSE) (Article L2312-5 of the French Labor Code).

💡 Moral and sexual harassment are punishable by a fine of up to 45,000 euros and a prison sentence of at least 2 years (Article 222-33 of the French Penal Code and Article 222-33-2 of the French Penal Code).