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Psychosocial load at work

The Royal decree of May 17 2007, establishes the obligations of the employer about prevention of psychosocial load caused by work.

Psychosocial load is defined as any load of psychosocial nature due to the execution of work and has negative effects on the physical and psychic health of the person. 

These effects can be sleeplessness, high blood pressure, breathing difficulties, headaches, digestion problems … On the psychological level, it can be depression, lack of motivation, anguish and suicidal ideas.  Psychosocial load is caused amongst other things by stress due to working conditions, relational suffering due to interpersonal conflicts or collective conflicts as well as violence, bullying and sexual harassment at work.

The employer must – even before incidents occur – make a risk analysis that assesses the factors which can cause psychosocial load (stress, violence, mobbing, certain types of conflicts …).  Primary, secondary and tertiary measures are also taken at the level of the organisation, the group or the individual.

Veerle Devriendt Consulting offers practical advice and experience to executive staff in the organisations in order to set up preventive measures about the welfare of the collaborators.  We also offer support with communication and tailoring measures for the internal structures of the firm.

The focus lies on the preventive aspect: therefore the efforts are being made by everybody, the individual, the team and the whole organisation.  It is only by addressing all these levels that significant results are achieved.

Concretely, the support concerning Psychosocial load at work comprehends the following activities:

  • Structured concertation by organizing meetings with working groups, managerial or executive staff
  • Helping to build a strategy on the subject of these themes in the organisation
  • Advising upon primary, secondary and tertiary prevention measures needed at organisational, group or individual level
  • Inform or train the various actors on the subject of stress, bullying, harassment at work, conflicts …
  • Intervision and follow-up in order to continue to support your organisation and assess it at regular times
  • Selection, training and intervision of confidential counsellors
  • Coaching of managerial staff on the matter of their relationship with collaborators
  • Coaching of staff concerning work or privately related situations and/or problems
  • Helping staff within the organisation who are experiencing difficult situations, i.e. talk about bad news, future restructuration, reorganisations and redundancies
  • Act as a confidential counsellor for firms of less than 20 workers
The advantage of having an external consultant lies in the fact that for a great number of abovementioned activities this person is non-prejudiced and not known.

Veerle Devriendt Consulting aims at delivering work to the client in a made to  measure package.  Solutions are offered that are narrowly tailored upon the needs of the company, rather than “ready-made” and general methods.  Here again, the focus lies on an interactive style while special attention is given to discretion, respect for the specificity of each and everyone and authenticity.

As a prevention advisor on psychosocial aspects and as a consultant I can look back on years of expertise with dozens of firms and companies from different horizons.

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