Psychosocial risks require preventive and multidisciplinary approaches.

 The evidence reviewed in the report entitled ''The psychosocial working environment: Global developments and pathways for action'' shows that the psychosocial working environment has a powerful influence on workers’ physical and mental health and well-being, as well as on organizational performance. How jobs are designed, managed and organized, and the broader policies, practices and procedures that govern work, can lead to negative consequences – such as increased risk of illness, injury and reduced work ability – or to positive outcomes, including improved health, well-being and performance. Translating this knowledge into consistent prevention requires coordinated efforts by governments, employers and workers and their organizations, OSH professionals and other relevant actors. These efforts need to focus on three interrelated areas: strengthening the knowledge base and monitoring systems; improving the coherence and clarity of policy and regulatory frameworks; and reinforcing workplace governance and leadership for psychosocial risk prevention. They must also keep pace with changes in the world of work that may influence the psychosocial working environment, including digitalisation, new forms of employment, demographic shifts and climate-related disruptions. While research on the psychosocial working environment is increasing, greater methodological consistency and alignment remain necessary. Regular and comparable data on exposure to psychosocial risks and their related outcomes would improve understanding of prevalence, trends and the effectiveness of preventive efforts over time. However, these issues remain under-represented in many national OSH statistics and surveillance systems. Recent consultations with national OSH statistics focal points indicate growing recognition of these gaps. Several institutions have reported concrete plans to enhance OSH statistics in the coming years, including in relation to psychosocial risks and work-related mental health. Sustaining and expanding these efforts will be essential to strengthening the quality, comparability and policy relevance of national data systems. Existing data sources – such as working-conditions surveys, labour force surveys, sickness absence and injury registers, labour inspection records and enterprise-level monitoring – contain valuable information but are often not designed or analysed in ways that adequately capture key aspects of the psychosocial working environment. More systematic integration of psychosocial indicators into OSH monitoring systems and national statistics – including through disaggregated data by sex, age, migration status, disability and other relevant characteristics – would improve tracking of both exposures and outcomes. This is particularly important given that psychosocial risks often develop gradually, accumulate over time and are shaped by organizational and social conditions. 

Improved use of available data is also critical for understanding how psychosocial risks are distributed across the workforce. Evidence shows that exposure is not evenly shared. Immigrants, persons with disabilities, ageing workers, young workers and those in precarious or informal employment may face higher exposure or more limited access to support. Discrimination, unequal power relations and social norms can influence how work is organized and how risks arise in practice. Strengthened monitoring and analysis can therefore help identify differentiated patterns of exposure and inform more inclusive prevention strategies. There are also important gaps in evaluation research. While many initiatives aim to improve the psychosocial working environment, there is still limited evidence on what works in different sectors, for different groups of workers and in different national contexts. Strengthening evaluation of policies and workplace measures would help identify effective approaches and support their wider adoption. Policy and regulatory frameworks addressing psychosocial risks have evolved in recent years, yet approaches vary widely, resulting in differences in how psychosocial risks are addressed in practice. In some contexts, psychosocial risks have been addressed through general OSH legislation and employers’ preventive duties; in others through more specific regulations, sectoral provisions, collective bargaining agreements, voluntary standards or combinations of these instruments. The extent to which different categories of workers and sectors are fully protected under OSH frameworks also varies. The terminology used in laws and policies likewise differs. References to issues such as “mental health at work”, “psychological safety” or “mentally healthy workplaces” often overlap with, but are not equivalent to, “psychosocial hazards or risks”. When policy attention focuses primarily on outcomes rather than on the work-related causes, psychosocial risk prevention may receive less emphasis. By contrast, when psychosocial risks are more explicitly reflected in policy and regulatory frameworks, workplaces are more likely to conduct risk assessments and implement preventive measures as part of normal OSH management practice+. Furthermore, in many contexts policy attention has focused primarily on acute and visible issues such as violence and harassment. While critical, these represent only one dimension of the psychosocial working environment. Greater attention to the structural and ongoing aspects of work organization – including workload, job control, predictability, participation and organizational justice – can encourage a more comprehensive preventive approach. Strengthening the link between the policy and regulatory framework and workplace practice is essential. In addition to enforcement efforts, supporting employers through practical advice, guidance, tools and capacity-building measures – particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises – is essential to translating policy commitments into practice. Finally, synergies between OSH authorities, public health bodies, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and sector-level institutions can reinforce preventive efforts. Recent expert consultations indicate that, even where legislative or policy measures exist, awareness and interpretation of their scope may differ within countries. Strengthening coordination, communication and shared understanding among institutions is therefore essential to ensure consistent implementation. Action beyond the individual workplace, including through employers’ and workers’ organizations, can help disseminate good practices and accelerate improvements across sectors.

 At the workplace level, preventing psychosocial risks depends primarily on how work is designed, organized and managed. While not all psychosocial hazards can be fully eliminated, many risks can be reduced by adjusting core features of work organization – including workload distribution, job design, staffing, working time arrangements, supervision and opportunities for participation and development. These types of measures typically involve reviewing how tasks are allocated, how performance expectations are set and how work processes operate in practice. Such organizational measures can be complemented by initiatives that strengthen workers’ skills and capacity to recognize psychosocial risks and respond appropriately where they arise. Leadership and management commitment are central in this regard. Decisions taken by senior management and line managers shape the conditions under which work is performed and determine whether adequate resources, realistic expectations and supportive practices are in place. Recognizing this responsibility helps ensure that psychosocial risk prevention is embedded in everyday management decisions and supported across functions within the organization. Effective workplace practice therefore focuses on organizational measures that address psychosocial risks at their source, supported by participatory processes involving workers and their representatives. Cooperation between OSH professionals, human resources, management and workers helps ensure that preventive measures are adapted to the realities of work and sustained over time. Given that psychosocial risks require preventive and multidisciplinary approaches, stronger links between research, policy and workplace practice remain essential. This includes continued attention to how policies are developed, implemented and evaluated, and to the broader social and organizational conditions that shape how work is designed, organized and managed in practice. Enhanced monitoring and surveillance, more systematic policy evaluation, and the development of practical and participatory approaches to improving work organization can support the uptake of effective practices and contribute to more consistently safe and healthy psychosocial working environments.