PREVENTION OF PSYCHOSOCIAL RISKS IN THE CONTROL ACTIVITY
Summary
Mihaylova R., Georeva P.
General Labour Inspectorate Executive Agency (GLI EA), Bulgaria
Occupational Health Service at ‘Trudova Medicina’ OOD
The conditions of transition and transformation of ownership in Bulgaria give rise to many social problems. Hence, the officials exercising control on behalf of the state work in a dynamic environment, with high public expectations as regards the results of their work.
Goal: To identify the main mental and social factors, related to GLI EA’s activity, to study their impact on cognitive functions, emotional reactions, behavior patterns and somatic (health) complaints, to rank them by strength of impact; to work out a preventive program for control on stress at work.
Methods: The survey was conducted through a direct group inquiry among 545 employees in the GLI EA. A questionnaire on the psychosocial factors was elaborated, including altogether 80 questions. Studied were the following groups of psychosocial factors, in line with the standard EN ISO 10075-1: sources of work-related strain arising from the ‘task requirements’/TR/, ‘social and organizational factors’/OF/, ‘physical conditions’ /PC/, ‘social factors’/SF/, taking into consideration the individual characteristics of the employees.
Outcome: Through single- and multi-factor analysis we identified the main statistically significant factors, sources of work-related psychosocial strain. From the TR group they are: ‘the work demands high concentration’, ‘working under conditions of time deficit’, ‘the work involves emotional strain at contact with employers and their representatives’, etc.; from the OF group: ‘awareness of what is going on in the Inspectorate’, ‘occurrence of ‘favoritism’ of colleagues’, etc.; from the PC group: ‘working in awkward postures’, ‘occurrence of dangerous situations at inspection’, etc.; from the SF group: ‘negative attitude and conflicts at inspections’ under pressure due to high public expectations.
The majority of the staff (75%) think that the work gives an impact on their health.
By strength of impact on cognitive functions, emotional reactions, behavior patterns and health complaints, the main psychosocial factors are ranked as follows: factors from the TR group; followed by OF and PC. Identified were the risk groups of employees: aged 51 – 60, followed by 41 - 50; by length of service in the Inspectorate: from 11 to 20 years, followed by 6 to 10.
Conclusion: Identified are the psychosocial factors in the control activity, sources of work-related mental strain, ranked by strength of impact and risk groups of employees; a prophylactic program for control of work-related psychosocial factors has been worked out.
Key words: psychosocial factors, psychosocial strain, risk groups, prophylactic program.