Editorial
Stress in the workplace to rise, say 8 out of 10 in major pan-European opinion poll
April 2012
Sheila Pantry OBE
Job-related stress is a concern for the large majority of the European workforce, concludes the 2nd European Opinion Poll on Occupational Safety and Health. The survey, conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), measured the opinions of over 35,000 members of the general public in 36 European countries on contemporary workplace issues including job-related stress, and the importance of occupational safety and health for economic competitiveness and in the context of longer working lives.
Eight in ten of the working population across Europe think that the number of people suffering from job-related stress over the next five years will increase (80%), with as many as 52% expecting this to 'increase a lot'. This echoes the findings of EU-OSHA's ESENER survey on new and emerging workplace risks which found that 79% of managers think that stress is an issue in their companies, making stress at work as important as workplace accidents for companies.
Work-related stress is one of the biggest health and safety challenges faced in Europe, representing a huge cost in terms of human distress and economic performance. The poll additionally found that the large majority of Europeans (86%) agree that following good occupational safety and health practices is necessary for a country's economic competitiveness, with 56% strongly agreeing. Views are similar among workers and those who do not work (86% and 85% agree respectively)
The full results of the pan-European poll: http://osha.europa.eu/en/safety-health-in-figures/index_html
April 2012 OSHWORLD FOCUS commemorates the 28 April - World Day of Safety and Health and looks at what is happening around the world on this very special day.
Ensure that you are up-to-date in your wider health, safety and fire information knowledge. Remember ignorance of the law and its requirements is NO excuse. So do you want to keep up-to-date in worldwide occupational health, safety, hygiene, road safety, water safety, fire, environment trends and the latest information? Do budget constraints not allow you to buy all the journals, newsletters and documents that contain the latest information? Can't afford the time to search for the latest information, legislation and standards? No staff to search for this information? And no time yourself to spend hours searching for information?
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Look further into the portal OSHWORLD www.oshworld.com and view the latest additions. In these days of tighter budgets perhaps training may be put on the "back-burner" - but think again how you can keep up with the latest techniques and training opportunities.
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It is always good to review health, safety, chemical, fire and environment procedures on a regular basis. It is also important that the practices and systems in the workplace are constantly reviewed and if necessary, improved. This review may also indicate training requirements and updates and re-thinking how systems and services can be improved. This is where the free-of charge OSHWORLD can help you.
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Don't work harder - work smarter! Be ahead of the game.
Are you hoping to have a zero accident, incident-free and healthy record this year in your workplace? Some would argue that this is not possible! But keep on trying!
And do continue to make plans for your campaigns for 2012 and beyond!