On April 28th, World Day for Safety and Health at Work is celebrated globally. Mental health and employee well-being are increasingly becoming topics of discussion and challenges.
However, both the private and public sectors show significant deficiencies in addressing psychosocial hazards. For instance, according to the latest European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER), only 13.5% of organizations in Estonia had an action plan to prevent work-related stress. Compared to other European countries, Estonia's figure is among the worst. By comparison, the numbers were 71.3% in Finland and 56.6% in Sweden. Additionally, more than half of the managers in Estonian organizations admitted that they do not have sufficient knowledge on how to assess psychosocial risks in their workplace.
It is clear that crises, especially the COVID pandemic, have had a strong impact on our psychosocial work environment. On one hand, more flexibility has been added to work, but on the other hand, there are significant problems with the balance between employees' work and personal life. According to the European Working Conditions Survey, 41% of employees in Estonia have very intense work, and 40% have to work in their free time weekly to complete necessary tasks. It is also concerning that more than half of the Estonian workers reported that their job affects the decision on how much time they can spend with their family. The study also highlights a trend where workers are increasingly exhausted from work to the extent that they cannot manage household duties or hobbies.
Research into similar and other psychosocial risk-related issues began last fall under the leadership of Professor Karin Reinhold and Assistant Professor Marina Järvis from the Department of Business Administration, through the project PSYR-IR.
The PSYR-IR project is conducted in collaboration with researchers from Belgium, Austria, and Italy. The project will last for two years, and a report on the results will be available in October 2025.
The aim of this project is to understand the challenges and problems associated with psychosocial risks in the workplace across European Union countries, including Estonia. Additionally, it explores how bottlenecks can be resolved at various levels (European Union, national, sectoral, and corporate). The project seeks to define which policies, actions, and tools could help mitigate psychosocial hazards and thereby improve employee mental well-being.
