Management of psychosocial risks in European workplaces; drivers and barriers in a national and cultural context: Abstract and presentation

Management of psychosocial risks in European workplaces; drivers and barriers in a national and cultural context: Abstract and presentation

van den Heuvel, S.G.
Bakhuys Roozeboom, M.C.
Eekhout, I.
Houtman, I.L.D.

2018

General objective of the project commissioned by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is to support policy makers in stimulating successful psychosocial risk (PSR) management. Since the national and cultural context may influence the effectiveness of drivers and barriers of PSR management, the following research questions will be answered: (1) What are determinants (drivers and barriers) of PSR management? (2) What is the influence of the cultural context on PSR management? (3) Does cultural context influence the drivers and barriers of PSR management and (4) do these drivers and barriers have the same impact in a different cultural context? Multilevel analyses were performed to answer these questions. Data were used from the second edition of a Europe-wide survey among enterprises, the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER-2, EU-OSHA), carried out in 2014. The dataset was supplemented with data on GDP per capita, data on national initiatives regarding occupational safety and health or PSR, and data on three cultural dimensions considered of potential relevance for PSR management (Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity) based on Hofstede. All analyses were adjusted for country, size, sector and respondent type. Results from the analyses were discussed in a focus group meeting of international experts from different cultural backgrounds to assist the interpretation of the results. In line with previous research, results show several drivers and barriers at the organisational level to be associated with PSR management, defined as the amount of measures in place to deal with psychosocial risks. Strongest driver was management commitment, and strongest barriers were lack of awareness among management and lack of expertise. On the cultural dimensions ‘Power Distance’ and ‘Uncertainty Avoidance’, a high score was associated with less PSR management. The cultural dimensions were highly associated with other factors of the national context (a high GDP per capita and national OSH and PSR initiatives), which were also associated with PSR management. The strong relation between the context variables enabled a distinction between a favourable and an unfavourable context for psychosocial risk management. Most drivers and barriers were not or only weakly related to cultural factors. Differences in impact of barriers and drivers in a different cultural context were found, but they were only marginal. Conclusion of the analyses and the discussion in the focus group was that national context matters and contributes significantly to the level of psychosocial risk management in companies. However, since national context is not easy to change, interventions may best be aimed at encouraging management commitment and employee involvement.

Life
WHC - Work, Health and Care
ELSS - Earth, Life and Social Sciences
Work and Employment
Workplace
Healthy Living

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f19e5ca3-8941-4dc7-8908-9c055998fa5c

841089

TNO

Proceedings of the 13th European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology ((EAOHP), Adapting to rapid changes in today’s workplace 5-7 September 2018 in Lisbon, Portugal

conference paper