Most European workers struggle with the increasing levels of work-related stress. That is the main finding of the second annual research titled European Opinion Poll on Occupational Safety and Health realized by Ipsos MORI for for the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). The research includes responses of more than 35,000 workers from 36 European countries.
Eight out of ten (80%) working Europeans think that the number of people suffering from work-related stress will increase in the coming five years. 52% even talk about a significant increase. 86% of working Europeans also believe that occupational safety and health plays a vital role in the issue of keeping the economic competitiveness of their countries.
"The financial crisis and the changing world of work is making increased demands on workers, therefore it is unsurprising that work-related stress is at the forefront of people’s minds,” says Dr Christa Sedlatschek, Director of EU-OSHA, in the press release. “Regardless of age, gender and organisation size an overwhelming majority of people believe that work-related stress will rise. Nonetheless there are interesting national variations in those who expect job-related stress to ‘increase a lot’, with Norwegians least worried (16%), for instance, and Greeks most worried about rising stress (83% ‘increase a lot’)."
In the Czech Republic, 1,032 telephone interviews with a representative sample of workers over 18 years were conducted. 76% of Czechs except further increase of the work-related stress in the next five years, 46% of them significantly. More often they are women (82%). Two-thirds of Czechs (66%) agree that occuparional safety and health plays a vital role in the issue of keeping the economic competitiveness of the Czech Republic. Only 53% of Czechs, however, believe that their superiors would deal with issues of occupational safety and health that they arise. Overall in Europe, 74% of workers believe it.
More information on the research methodology and findings in the various European countries can be found in the EU-OSHA press release or in the research press kit with results.
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