Interventions to prevent and manage psychosocial risks and work-related stress

Prevention is the cornerstone of the European approach to managing occupational safety and health. Prevention means anticipating and analysing the various aspects of work to identify short and long term risks, and then taking action to eliminate or mitigate those risks; that is identifying and addressing the source of the problem. The actions taken to eliminate or mitigate risks are referred to as interventions. This article presents the different levels of interventions that can be applied to manage psychosocial risks and work-related stress. It also describes the process of psychosocial risk management which outlines best practice on how to design, implement and evaluate interventions. The article primarily focuses on prevention, rather than on an extensive discussion on treatment or rehabilitation