1. XXI. World Congress on
Safety & Health at Work,
September 2017,
Singapore
Fighting psychological strain at work – the German nationwide program „Protection and Strengthening of Health in the Case of Work-Related Mental Load “

2. Dr. Torsten Kunz
Director of the Prevention Department of Unfallkasse Hessen, Frankfurt, Germany
Deputy Head of the German nationwide program „Protection and Strengthening of Health in the Case of Work-Related Mental Load“
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

3. Agenda
- Background and legal base - Initial situation - Goals - Milestones and first results - Conclusion and outlook
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen 3

4. Background
- 79% of European employers regard work-related stress as an important health issue Managers attribute the greatest importance to “time pressure“ (52%) and "dealing with difficult customers, patients, colleagues, etc." (50%).
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen 4

5. Background
The number of reported work inabilities in Germany caused by psychological diseases has increased within 10 years.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

6. Background
Psychological strain causes above average absence from work and down time.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

7. Legal Basis
German Occupational Health and Safety Act (completed in 2015) Employers are obligated to organize work in a way that threats for … psychological health are avoided They are also obligated to perform a risk assessment – also about work-related mental load But: Almost large organizations or those with special loads such as traumatization, included work-related mental load in their risk assessment.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen 7

8. The Program
- Nationwide program (2013 – 2018) „Protection and Strengthening of Health in the Case of Work-Related Mental Load” as a part of „Joint German Occupational Safety and Health Strategy“ (GDA) Partners in the program (GDA Psyche): - Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, - state labour inspection authorities, - Social Accident Insurance Institutions, - unions and employers´ associations, - Social Health Insurance and other partners Program contains elements of a nationwide campain.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen 8

9. Initial Situation (2012)
Diverging views by unions and employers' associations,
emotional and less objective media reporting,
poorly qualified supervisors,
only a few specialists in monitoring services,
occupational consultants not informed, qualified and motivated ,
no central website,
no quality assured guidelines,
few instruments to record psychological stress,
no information about measures in enterprises to avoid mental load in the workplace.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

10. Goals
To generate political consensus between unions and employers´ associations,
to inform (professional) public and to objectify media coverage,
to inform, qualify and motivate supervisors,
to establish a system of specialists in monitoring services,
to inform, qualify and motivate occupational consultants about psychological stress and strain on the job,
to establish a central website about mental load in the workplace,
to develop quality assured guidelines and instruments to record psychological stress,
to review measures in enterprises to avoid mental load in the workplace (focus on risk assessment, working time and traumatization).
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

11. Milestones (January 2013 – August 2017)
Establishment of a steering committee with 11 working groups (2013),
Joint Declaration of unions and employers´ associations (2013),
Establishment of an obligatory one-week qualification of all 6,000 supervisors of the state labour inspection authorities and the Social Accident Insurance Institutions (2013 – 2017),
Employment of more than 100 specialists in prevention of mental load in the workplace (most of them are OSH psychologists) in monitoring institutions and periodic qualification of this group (2013 – 2017),
Creating a central website about mental load in the workplace ( with more than 500,000 page views (2014).
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

12. Examples Work Environment Working Time Work and Recovery
Emotional Work
Work Atmosphere
Burnout
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

13. Examples Fatigue Violence Harassment Monotone Work
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Stress
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

14. Milestones (January 2013 – August 2017)
Tens of thousands of seminars, presentations and lectures for managers, staff councils, occupational safety specialists, occupational physicians and other groups (2013 – 2017),
Media coverage in trade journals (2013 – 2017),
Creation of short movies about selected mental load in the workplace and how to include psychological stress in the risk assessment,
Creation and publication of quality assured guidelines and instruments to record psychological stress,
Review of measures to avoid mental load in the workplace in more than 10,000 companies,
Continuous evaluation of the program.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

15. Other Results
Still: More than 30% of enterprises had no sufficient implementation of psychological stress in their risk assessment.
If psychological stress is included in the risk assessment, main subjects are content, task, environment and organization of work, working time and social relations. Less attention is paid to traumatization and new forms of work.
Very good reviews for the qualification of our 6,000 supervisors, the website, the guidelines and the short movies.
Rising acceptance in companies regarding the importance of psychological stress in the workplace.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

16. Conclusion
Psychological stress in the workplace is a new but important subject for employees as well as for employers.
As a basis for a program to minimize stress, it is necessary to work together with unions and employers` associations and use their excellent connections to enterprises and employees.
For such a nationwide program a full-time management is helpful – especially for leadership, public relations and evaluation.
Before information reaches the companies, it is necessary to qualify, inform and motivate supervisors and safety specialists.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

17. Conclusion
There should be a focus on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) – they have the worst formal organisation (but sometimes a good informal one). Hence, instruments to assess psychological stress in workplaces must be simple.
It takes years to build up a nationwide infrastructure (qualification, guidelines and instruments to support enterprises, website, media coverage) before enterprises are reached, informed and motivated. Therefore, a program dealing with psychological stress in the workplace should last at least about 10 years.
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

18. Outlook
The program „Protection and Strengthening of Health in the Case of Work-Related Mental Load “ will be continued in the next GDA-period ( ).
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen

19. Questions? Comments? Contact: t.kunz@ukh.de
Dr. Torsten Kunz, Unfallkasse Hessen