New tools and strategies for the inspection of the psychosocial working environment: The experience of the Danish Working Environment Authority

Bidragets oversatte titel: Nye værktøjer og strategi til tilsyn med det psykosociale arbejdsmiljø: Det danske Arbejdstilsyns erfaringer

Mette Bøgehus Rasmussen, Tom Hansen, Klaus Tranetoft Nielsen

    Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

    Abstract

    In 2007 the Danish Working Environment Authority launched a new strategy to strengthen and qualify primary prevention of work related stress. Part of the strategy consists of increased inspections of the psychosocial working environment as well as the development and implementation of a new inspection tool, namely the “guidance tool”.

    Twenty-four sector specific guidance tools have been developed to help WEA inspectors assess psychosocial working environment problems in all Danish enterprises. Based on recent research, the guidance tools consist, in each sector, of the three to five most important risk factors (for example quantitative demands, emotional demands, and work related violence), as well as the most important preventive factors, e.g. quality of management, influence/control and training.

    During the first years of the strategy, an increasing number of inspectors have issued improvement notices regarding work related stress and violence, and there has been an increasing number of notices issued on several risk factors. For some aspects, the tools have helped increase the clarity and comprehensibility of the improvement notices and reduce the WEA’s time consumption per enterprise.

    The guidance tools seem to be a suitable and efficient way of assessing several health and safety risks concerning work related stress and violence thereby allowing the WEA to detect more of the existing problems. Future challenges projected for the strategy include continuously training all WEA inspectors in the proper use of the tools and continuously refining the tools – or developing new tools – based on further research and experiences from practice.

    Bidragets oversatte titelNye værktøjer og strategi til tilsyn med det psykosociale arbejdsmiljø: Det danske Arbejdstilsyns erfaringer
    OriginalsprogEngelsk
    TidsskriftSafety Science
    Vol/bind49
    Udgave nummer4
    Sider (fra-til)565-574
    ISSN0925-7535
    DOI
    StatusUdgivet - 2011

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