How to prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace?

Psychosocial risks pose a threat to employees' mental health, and require special vigilance!

Clara Godin
Environmental & occupational health & safety lawyer
Update : 
12.09.2025
Publication: 
13.06.2023
Contents
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Psychosocial risks (PSR) pose a threat to employees' mental health, and require special vigilance. In this article, we outline the employer's main obligations to prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace.

Psychosocial risks: definition and issues

Psychosocial risks (PSR) cover all the psychological disorders that employees may suffer in the course of their work. The psychological aspect of employees is sometimes neglected, and may even be hidden by them. As a result, these risks are difficult to identify, and prevention can be tricky.

RPS often originate in work situations that are not adapted to employees. The French Ministry of Labour distinguishes four main types of RPS:

  • stress, caused by excessive demands on employees in relation to the resources and time allocated to them;
  • violence within the company, such as harassment or conflict;
  • external violence perpetrated against employees by persons from outside the company;
  • burn-out syndrome, characterized by an overloading of psychological capacities, generally leading to the immediate need to cease all professional activity.

These different risks can accumulate and interfere with each other, creating a negative chain reaction for employees and the company.

Link between PSR and other occupational hazards

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

In fact, occupational hazards constitute a mental and psychological burden that promotes a harmful or restrictive work environment. The reverse is also true: RPS increase other occupational hazards in the company, because of the lassitude, loss of concentration and loss of interest they can generate.

Psychosocial risks are therefore a multi-faceted issue, and more important than they appear. Over and above the importance of preserving employees' mental health, the prevention of psychosocial risks also helps to reduce the risk of accidents within the company.

It is therefore important for the company's health to consider the link between RPS and all occupational risks. In concrete terms, the employer must take into account the entire organization of the company and its component parts when developing the prevention of RPS (article L4121-3 C. trav.).

💡 A study carried out by the Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité (INRS) in 2010 evaluates the social cost of work-related stress between 1.9 and 3 billion euros in France (!).

How to prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace?

What are the employer's obligations in terms of preventing psychosocial risks?

The French Labor Code requires employers to protect workers' mental health(article L.4121-1). To prevent psychosocial risks in the workplace, it is therefore advisable to refer to the various stages defined by the general principles of occupational risk prevention(article L.4121-2 C. trav.):

  • avoid risks whenever possible;
  • assess risks;
  • understanding and combating risks at source ;
  • favour collective prevention measures over individual prevention measures ;
  • adapting the mental workload to employees in order to reduce stress ;
  • prevent risks by taking action on work organization, working conditions, social and relational relations, work atmosphere, etc.

The employer must also update the document d'évaluation des risques professionnels (DUERP), including by including the psychosocial risks to which employees are exposed. This update must be carried out at the time of the analysis of occupational risks, following a work-related health hazard, or in the event of a complaint, when a workplace accident reveals new risks in the company, or in the event of an alert(article L4121-3-1 C. trav.).

Lastly, the employer is required to organize safety safety training and the risks associated with the workstation(article L.4141-2 C. trav.):

  • the workers he hires;
  • workers who change workstations or techniques;
  • temporary employees ;
  • workers returning to work after at least 21 days off, at the request of the occupational physician.

This training may be renewed periodically, depending on the requirements of the workstation or the collective agreement. Indeed, some jobs involve a heavy mental workload, and may therefore require special training to manage the psychological aspect.

💡 Employees must be informed of the risks to their health and safety to which they are exposed in the course of their work, and of the measures put in place to remedy them (article L.4141-1 C. trav.).

How do you prevent psychosocial risks?

The prevention of psychosocial risks generally follows four stages:

  • risk assessment ;
  • drawing up an action plan ;
  • implementation of actions ;
  • follow-up on actions implemented.

It may be necessary to prepare a multidisciplinary team to effectively implement RPS prevention. Ideally, this team is made up of members from different sectors of the company, likely to bring a heterogeneous vision of the work situations to be analyzed. As a reminder the CSE must contribute to the analysis of risks to which employees are exposed(article L4121-3 C. trav.).

Avoiding and assessing risks

To prevent RPS, it is necessary to analyze the various risk factors associated with workstations in the company. These risk factors encompass all the mental burdens, stress and violence to which workers may be subjected.

These factors are generally grouped into several categories:

  • Biomechanical factors (gestures, posture, excessive physical demands, etc.) ;
  • Environmental factors (temperature, noise, lighting, exposure to vibration, etc.) ;
  • Organizational factors (working hours, workplace organization, necessary recovery time, etc.) ;
  • Cognitive factors (excessive cognitive demands, stress, production requirements, customer contact, etc.) ;
  • Individual factors (gender, age, physical condition, etc.).

Risk assessment involves analyzing workstations in terms of the risk factors listed above. In the context of RPS prevention, particular attention needs to be paid to cognitive and organizational factors.

Development and implementation of preventive actions

An action plan must be drawn up in order to best organize the prevention of RPS. To ensure that prevention is monitored and effective, this action plan is usually accompanied by a timetable with deadlines for its implementation.

Actions to prevent psychosocial risks are specific to each company and each workstation. These actions must be defined on the basis of the occupational risk assessment and the data collected in the DUERP. Generally speaking, this will involve taking action on organizational and relational aspects, as well as on the mental workload associated with workstations.

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

Examples:

  • the introduction of breaks;
  • where possible, rotating employees between different workstations to avoid redundant work;
  • adjusting working hours to allow sufficient rest time;
  • reorganization of the workspace to facilitate tasks;
  • adapting the pace of work to limit risk factors over time;
  • reduce productivity requirements ;
  • protect employees from environmental pollution;

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

It is also possible to protect employees from a work environment that is harmful to morale, by using tools to protect them from environmental nuisances(hearing protection, protective eyewear, etc.).

Finally, it is important to manage the relational aspect of the company to reduce conflicts or violence between staff.

💡 O ccupational medicine can play an important role in setting up and defining these actions. It can also assess their effectiveness by monitoring the actions implemented and their results.

What are the rules on harassment?

Moral and sexual harassment, as well as sexual harassment, are one of the main causes of psychosocial problems in the workplace. They are also considered an occupational risk, and as such must be taken into account in the assessment of occupational risks and included in the DUERP(article L4121-2 C. trav.).

Indeed, the mental health of employees who are victims of harassment or sexist harassment can be impaired, and can even lead to depressive disorders that leave the victim unable to work. Consequently, the French Labor Code requires employers to prevent and put an end to sexist, moral and sexual harassment(article L1152-4 C. trav. and article L1153-5 C. trav.).

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

Moral harassment

● take all necessary measures to prevent moral harassment(article L1152-4 C. trav.) ;

● inform employees of the risks of moral harassment ;

● organize a mediation procedure in agreement with both parties(article L1152-6 C. trav.).

Sexual harassment

● prevent sexual harassment, put an end to it and punish it (article L1153-5 C. trav.) ;

● display information on the criminal provisions of article 222-33 on the premises where hiring takes place;

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

● create or join an occupational health and prevention service(article L4622-2 C. trav.) ;

● in companies with at least 50 employees, the company's internal regulations must include provisions relating to sexual harassment and sexist harassment(article L1321-2 C. trav.);

● in companies with at least 250 employees, a company harassment referent must be appointed(article L1153-5-1 C. trav.) ;

● appoint a harassment representative to the CSE(article L2312-5 C. trav.).

💡 Moral and sexual harassment is punishable by a fine of up to 45,000 euros and a prison sentence of at least 2 years (article 222-33 C. pén. and article 222-33-2 C. pén.).