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How to design a workplace that fulfills the needs of employees in a changing world of work?
Dr. Kai SeilerPresidentInstitute for Work Design of North-Rhine-Westphalia Germany
Conference “Good Working Environment
in the Evolving Labour Market”, Tallinn6th November 2018
© electriceye /Fotolia.com
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The LIA.nrw advises and supports the state
government of North Rhine-Westphalia and the
public health and safety services in matters of
safety, health protection and health promotion in
the world of work.
• Health risks at work
• Design of workplaces,
work processes and
working hours
• Operational health
management
• Occupational disease
procedure
• Team of inspectors "Good
Laboratory Practice"
(GLP)
• Radiation measurement
point
• Equipment Examination
Board (GUS)
• "Observatory of Health
Risks"
• Representative survey
studies
• Networks, Cooperations
and Projects
• KomNet - good advice and
healthy working.
• Events and publications
Institute for Work Design
of North Rhine-Westphalia
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Content of the presentation
1. Introduction - Structural change of the working world
2. Shifts in the workforce and in forms of employment
3. Work-related stressors and risks for employees‘ health
4. The need for modern approaches to prevention
5. Examples for participatory techniques and tools
6. Lessons learned
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Bochum – from coal and steel to a knowledge economy
© Google Maps, Deutsches Industriemuseum, Léon Wohlhage Wernik, Tobias Vollmer
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The workforce in Germany – ageing and diversifiying
Shifting workforce demographics due to
an ageing population (despite immigration) and prolonging working lives
a growing participation of women in the work force, especially mothers of
young children
changing immigration patterns
a continuing trend towards higher education, a firmly established system of
occupational training, and an elaborated system of further qualification
individualised lifestyles, diverse private ways of life and types of families
Trend #1Opportunities to reconcile work withprivate life, to stay healthy, toadvance professionally and to do a meaningful job are becomingincreasingly important for employees
Trend #2Different expectations towardsemployment and workingconditions
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Work-related stressors and risks for employees’ health
0 20 40 60 80
Noise
Unhealthy leadership
Reorganization
Social conflicts
Unfavourable work flow
Excessive work load
Poor climatic conditions
High responsibility
Multitasking
Pressure of time
Top 10 of work-related stressors - findings of the anualLIA.nrw study of employees in North Rhine-Westphalia
Percentage of affectedrespondants (%)
source: LIA.nrw Beschäftigtenbefragung 2016
2/3 of the respondantssuffer under psychological
stressors!
(Average of all psychologicalrisks plus „noise“)
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© Petr Ciz - fotolia.com
Work-related stressors and risks for employees’ health
High and increasing importance of psychosocial risks(especially time-pressure, multi-tasking, high responsibility, conflicts with customers and clients, excessive
demands and workloads, organisational restructuring and poorly managed organisational change, poorly
managed workflows, weak leadership)
Emerging risks due to the digitalisation of work and work environments
Not to mention: work-related stressors known from the “old economy“
continue to cause accidents and work-related diseases
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It‘s all about the balance: stressors and resources
Stressors, e.g.
• Reorganization• Social conflicts• Excessive work loads• Pressure of time• Difficulties with the
individual work-life-balance
• …
Resources, e.g.
• Possibility to participate in Work Design
• Appreciation• Clearly defined role• …
• Willingness to learn• Ability to seek and accept
assistance• Ability to get assistance
dealing with difficultiesconcerning the work-lifebalance (for example: familysupport in child care)
• …source: Erkrankungsrisiken durch arbeitsbedingte psychische Belastung. transfer 4, Seiler, K.; Jansing, P.-J.
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Percentage of employees by sectors reporting stress
by digitalised work environments
(Source: Beschäftigtenbefragung NRW 2016, Goedicke/ Polzer-Baakes/ Beerheide/ Seiler: “Alte” und “neue” Belastungen in einer digitalisierten Arbeitsqwelt:
Ergebnisse aus der LIA.nrw-Beschäftigtenbefragung. In: sicher ist sicher 10/2017: 424.)
Construction-, waste-, electricity- and water industry
Manufacturing industry
Trade, transporting andhospitality
IT, finance, real estate andother services
Public administration
Educational-, health- andsocial sector
Percentage of stressed respondants (%)
Problems handeling computers or telecommunication equipment
constant reachability (after end of working day, on weekends)
digitalised, complex and inscrutable work flows
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Modern OSH-management depends on participation
Working conditions and work-related health risks become
more diverse and harder to monitor for managers and
OSH-specialists in the enterprises due to
• growing shares of mobile work from home, from customers or business trips
• more rapidely changing work environments (projectwork and temporary teams, ongoing re-organisation, new technologies, etc.)
• employees and teams are confronted high expectations for self-management and a good performance in economic terms
© Robert Kneschke/Fotolia.com
Necessity to enhance participation of employees in risk assessment at work and tobetter utilize their expertise for safe working conditions and health-promoting workorganisation ( + training and empowerment)
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Modern OSH-management depends on participation
Example: The open plan office
• But often it comes with a lot of problems:• permanent noise level• acoustic and visual distractions• higher concentration of germs
and virus• social stress (no own room etc.)
• How to start an open plan office right:• include the concerned employees in the detailed planning• training for cooperation and consideration• develop common rules for coexistence• adequate sound insulation and privacy protection• create rest or recreation areas
© mooshny – fotolia.com
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The moderated group discussion
the moderated group discussion is an
opportunity for participation of employees while
fulfilling the employers´ legal duty for risk
assessment and health protection
The moderated group discussion is a participatory method for identifying
work-related stressors and for developing opportunities for improvement
The goal is to develop ideas to improve the work situation in individual
departments or work areas
In result, you will get get better ideas and commitment from employees and a
roadmap of uselful measures. It also improves the communication
culture in the company
© belekekin - Fotolia.com
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The moderated group discussion
Typically, the discussion is moderated by the
employer herself/himself
It focuses on 4 topics: the organization, the content,
the environment of work and the social relationships
Process
© Robert Kneschke/Fotolia.com
1. Identification, definition and priorising of work-related stressors
2. Development of opportunities and solutions
3. Documentation of identified stressors and solutions by the moderator
4. Accurate implementation of developed solutions with needs-based support options
5. Transfer of the results to the risk assessment
The LIA.nrw is currentlyworking on a handbook for
the moderated groupdiscussion for SMEs
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Training factory for employee representatives
Experimental training factory concerning
the challenges of a digitalised work design
The University of Bochum founded
the programm to train employee
representatives to recognize the
(sometimes hidden) challenges
of the digitalisation
Technology station „Roboforming“, LPS Training factory of the University
Bochum
© IG Metall, LPS RUB
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Training factory for employee representatives
It teaches them ways to enhance the participation
of employees in risk assessment at work
The goal is to learn how to identify
and deal with the effects of
different technologies on a specific
work Design
Participants shall be empowered
to transfer the shown processes
and methods into their companiesFirst person impressions of
working with new, smart technologies
© IG Metall, LPS RUB
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Designing a workplace that fulfills the needs of employees
Work Design has to be adjusted to new challenges
• but do not forget the old ones
Personal and environmental prevention
• unfortunally, there is no „one-best way“
Despite more individualized work situations employees should not be left
alone with occupational safety and health issues.
Be aware of the diversity of employees and employment situations
Please do not forget the SMEs -> Develop tools and support offeringsAnd do not forget the participation of employees in designing the
workplace and their expertise for safe working conditions and health-promoting work organization
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Landesinstitut für Arbeitsgestaltung
des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (LIA.nrw)
Gesundheitscampus 10
44801 Bochum
Telefon: +49 (0) 211 3101-1133
www.lia.nrw