Psychosocial Risks: How to Take Concrete Action?
Because prevention is better than cure, psychosocial risks should no longer be a taboo subject. Stress, burnout, conflicts, or lack of recognition: what are the signs to watch for and the levers to activate before the situation deteriorates? A practical guide to acting at the right time.
The start of the new term often marks a return to a sustained pace. Calendars fill up, projects resume in earnest, and everyone gradually finds their bearings again after the summer break. For many, this period is stimulating. For others, it can also reawaken fatigue that was already present, unresolved tensions, or a feeling of overload.
It is precisely at this time of year that it is useful to put an essential subject back on the table—one that is still sometimes difficult to address in the workplace: psychosocial risks (PSR).
What Are PSR?
Psychosocial risks encompass all work situations likely to harm the mental, but also physical, health of employees: chronic stress, work overload, lack of recognition, persistent conflicts, loss of meaning, professional burnout, moral or sexual harassment, or discrimination.
Contrary to certain misconceptions, PSR are not a sign of individual fragility. They generally appear when an imbalance sets in between the demands of the work and the resources a person has to cope with them: insufficient autonomy, limited support, lack of recognition, or reduced room for maneuver.
This distinction is important because it reminds us that the prevention of PSR is above all a collective responsibility. Acting on the organization of work is often the most effective lever for sustainably protecting employee health.
Signals to Which a Company Must Be Attentive
Psychosocial risks rarely set in overnight. They often manifest through weak signals that, taken in isolation, may seem trivial but deserve particular attention when they recur. So, what signals should we be attentive to?
At the Individual Level
- Persistent fatigue
- Unusual irritability
- Progressive isolation
- Decline in motivation
- Difficulty concentrating
- Repeated short-term absences
- Unusual behavioral changes
At the Collective Level
- Increase in absenteeism
- Higher staff turnover
- Recurring tensions within a team
- Deterioration of the work climate
- Informal complaints that struggle to reach management
- Decline in quality or efficiency without an obvious organizational cause
Psychosocial Risk Assessment
Behind a succession of short absences or a change in attitude often lies a person who is still trying to cope despite a difficulty. Identifying these signals early allows us to act before a situation deteriorates further.
Absence statistics are, moreover, an excellent early indicator. They are often part of the elements analyzed in the context of a psychosocial risk assessment, along with the work climate, turnover, or employee feedback. An increase in short absences within the same department always deserves to be investigated before it leads to long-term absences.
What Swiss Law Says
In Switzerland, the prevention of psychosocial risks is not merely a good management practice. It is part of the employer’s obligations.
Article 328 of the Code of Obligations (CO) requires the employer to protect the personality, health, and personal integrity of workers and to take the necessary measures for this protection.
Article 6 of the Labor Act (LTr), supplemented by Ordinance 3 relating to the Labor Act (OLT 3), specifies this obligation with regard to occupational health. The employer must organize the work and the conditions under which it is performed in a manner that preserves the physical and mental health of employees.
Concretely, the prevention of PSR engages the company’s responsibility in the same way as physical safety at a workstation.
SECO recommends making available a confidential and independent support mechanism allowing employees to obtain help when they are confronted with a difficult situation. The Trusted Person in the Workplace (TPW) is today one of the most recognized measures to meet this objective.
The case law of the Federal Court has moreover confirmed that employers must implement concrete and appropriate measures to prevent harm to personality and health at work. The Trusted Person constitutes one of the mechanisms that can help satisfy this obligation, without being formally imposed by law.
Beyond the legal risk, the absence of prevention often leaves employees and teams alone in the face of situations that, when not addressed, tend to worsen.
How to Take Concrete Action?
The good news is that the prevention of PSR relies on simple and progressive levers that do not require changing everything at once. A psychosocial risk assessment often makes it possible to identify the risk factors present in the organization and to define the most appropriate measures before implementing an action plan:
Managers are often the first witnesses to behavioral changes. Training them to identify weak signals and adopt a listening posture is an essential lever for prevention.
Making available a neutral point of contact, such as an external Trusted Person, allows employees to talk about their difficulties outside the hierarchical line, in a secure setting.
Regularly monitoring absenteeism data, staff turnover, or climate survey results often makes it possible to identify trends before they become problematic.
A clear policy regarding respect at work, the prevention of harassment, and the steps to follow in case of difficulty helps everyone know where the boundaries lie and whom to turn to.
Prevention is not limited to a procedure or a regulation. It is built through daily exchanges between HR, management, managers, and employees. Regularly opening spaces for discussion helps maintain a climate of trust and detect difficulties more quickly.
Anticipating Today Means Preserving Tomorrow
At Loyco, our Corporate Health Promotion team supports organizations of all sizes on these issues on a daily basis: psychosocial risk assessment, implementation of Trusted Person mechanisms, analysis of absence statistics, care management, manager training, mediation and conflict management, team or individual supervision, and team awareness-raising.
One conviction consistently emerges from the field: the earlier a situation is identified, the simpler and more effective the solutions. Conversely, difficulties left unaddressed rarely tend to disappear on their own.
Ultimately, preventing psychosocial risks is not only about complying with a legal obligation. It is above all about creating an environment in which everyone feels heard, respected, and supported when going through a difficult period.
The start of the new term offers a good opportunity to ask a few simple questions: do employees know whom to contact if needed? Are managers equipped to identify warning signals? Do we have an explicit charter for the prevention of psychosocial risks? Do we have the necessary means to act before a situation turns into lasting suffering?
Because when it comes to occupational health, anticipating today means preserving tomorrow.
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