Fix the workplace, not the worker

The organisational and psychosocial working environment is fundamental to employee health and safety, as well as operational performance, but is frequently undervalued. How can companies improve their risk monitoring in relation to this issue?

Havtil intends to contribute towards encouraging the industry to put the spotlight on the significance that organisational and psychosocial factors have for the working environment, safety and operational performance, and how important it is to work preventively in this field.

“The organisational and psychosocial working environment is fundamental to employee health and safety, as well as operational performance”, says Senior Adviser Emilia Thingbø, who works with working environment issues at Havtil.

“Nevertheless, these factors are often not given adequate consideration”, she says.

More than well-being

“Unfortunately, we all too often hear people saying that the working environment has nothing to do with safety”, says Thingbø.

“However, in the major accident industries, such as those in the oil and gas sector, we’ve seen that organisational and psychosocial factors, such as excessive workloads, poorly-defined roles and responsibilities, and inadequate support, may act as contributory factors in serious incidents. The working environment is about more than employee well-being. Even committed and motivated employees can get sick or injured as a result of inadequate management of organisational and psychosocial risk”, she says.

“High motivation at work, which is generally associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and productivity, do not make employees immune to the negative impacts of stress, work-related illness or other psychosocial factors”, she adds.  

Thingbø points out that the companies focus too often solely on the consequences of exposure to organisational and psychosocial factors, rather than investigating the reasons why employees get sick or injured.

“They have systems and processes in place to assist individuals with such things as stress management and a more rapid return to work after sickness absence. However, these measures are targeted at individual employees. They are also reactive because once an employee is sick or injured, the risk has already materialised. The key is to find a balance between reactive and preventive measures”, she says.

Prevention is essential

“As a supervisory authority, we at Havtil are committed to seeing that the companies adopt a preventive approach – looking into how work tasks can be organised in ways that prevent stress and burnout”, says Thingbø.

She draws a parallel with other factors in the working environment, such as exposure to noise and chemicals.  Employers cannot wait for their employees to lose their hearing or get cancer before taking action. They must implement preventive measures that eliminate or reduce the sources of exposure.  The same should apply to psychosocial factors.

“Psychosocial risk should be regarded as an organisational issue”, says Thingbø. “Does an employee have too many tasks, or too few resources to carry them out? Does he or she have the necessary training? Is the employee experiencing contradictory requirements or an inadequate definition of his or her role?”, she asks.

“My message is really quite simple.  Fix the workplace, not the worker”.

Weak analyses and inadequate involvement

Havtil’s supervisory activities reveal that the companies are facing challenges when it comes to their management of the organisational and psychosocial working environment. 

“We’re finding inadequacies in all aspects of the management loop”, says Thingbø. “In particular in relation to the analyses and assessments that are intended to form the basis for future risk management activity. Many companies carry out surveys with the aim of assessing their internal psychosocial working environments. These provide an overview of selected organisational and psychosocial factors, but tell them nothing about the causes of exposure to negative influences”, she says.

Thingbø emphasises that surveys may help organisations to assign priorities and recognise trends, but they make it difficult to identify actions that address the sources of risk.

“In order to initiate preventive measures, it’s essential to engage with those who are actually feeling the pressure”, she says. “Individual departments are most likely experiencing different issues, so it’s unrealistic to expect that universal actions will have the same effect throughout the organisation. Some employees may have responded that they experience tight deadlines and excessive workloads, but what really lies behind these statements? In order to understand the causes, it’s vital to engage with them and obtain information about factors such as their work tasks and who they interact with”.

“Knowledge, combined with assistance from professionals, is a key factor for success in this kind of work.  Even though managers may formally ‘own’ workplace risks, it’s unreasonable to expect them to be specialists in the organisational and psychosocial working environment”, she says. 

Analyses are a regulatory requirement

Norwegian HSE regulations require employers to ensure that all risks associated with the workplace are identified and appropriately managed.

According to Section 18 of the Management Regulations governing working environment analysis, “the responsible party shall carry out necessary analyses to ensure a sound working environment and provide support in the choice of technical, operational and organisational solutions. The analyses shall e.g. contribute to improving the employees' health, welfare and safety and to prevent personal injuries, fatalities and work-related illness as a result of (a) mistakes that can result in hazard and accident situations, and (b) exposure and physical or psychological effects”, with the aim of ensuring that all workplace risks are assessed and controlled.

New report

In May 2024, Havtil published a report with the aim of contributing towards improving the industry’s monitoring and management of organisational and psychosocial risk at group level. The report, prepared in Norwegian by Safetec, in collaboration with the University of Stavanger, describes our current status of knowledge regarding the principles and criteria for monitoring organisational and psychosocial risk at group level.

In this context, the term "group level" is understood to refer to closely-defined working groups (teams), technical disciplines, workplaces, company units or departments. In other words, groups that share work tasks and/or processes, managers and interfaces.

The aim of the report is to boost our knowledge regarding methodologies for, and approaches to, assessment and risk management, and to promote primary preventive action.

Download the report: Oppfølging av organisatorisk og psykososial risiko på gruppenivå (Monitoring of organisational and psychosocial risk at group level, in Norwegian only).

The report describes the overarching principles that should be applied as the basis for a company’s activities addressing the organisational and psychosocial working environment. A key principle is that it is essential to integrate such activities as part of day-to-day corporate management.

“Work in connection with assessment and improvement of the organisational and psychosocial working environment must be regarded as a continuous process”, emphasises Thingbø.

“My point is that this work should not be set apart as an isolated project. It must be regarded as a natural and integrated part of corporate management systems and work processes.  Management must be fully committed to such work, and must ensure that clearly-defined systems, processes and targets are put in place".

"At the same time, it will be impossible to achieve success without employee participation. It is, after all, they who carry out the work and experience problematic issues in the workplace. It is essential that employees participate in discussions relating to both causes and possible solutions."

"A systematic approach to the management of organisational and psychosocial risk, accompanied by risk-mitigating measures, may result in positive outcomes in many fields such as health, safety, productivity and profitability”, she says.

My message is really quite simple.  Fix the workplace, not the worker.

Do you want to learn more?

On Thursday 5 December 2024, Havtil is arranging a technical seminar dedicated to holistic management of the organisational and psychosocial working environment.

The seminar is targeted at managers, persons with responsibilities in the field of HSE, occupational health services, employee health and safety delegates, HR personnel, union representatives and others who work with, or have responsibility for, the working environment in their organisation.

Havtil hopes that this seminar will communicate current knowledge that will help organisations to adopt a systematic and preventive approach to issues related to the organisational and psychosocial working environment. 

The seminar will be held in Norwegian only.