Research project Work environment and health
Mapping psychosocial stress factors in the organization in a reliable way is important for preventing work-related stress and ill-health.
In this project we investigate how well the questionnaire tool QPRA (Questionnaire for Psychosocial Risk Assessment) works for this purpose. By comparing results from a variety of workplaces in Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany, we also investigate whether the survey tool for the psychosocial risk assessment is useful in different industries and regions and in multinational organizations.
Full title of the project: Work environment and health: A comparative study in Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Germany to validate a survey tool for risk assessment.
Project description
The Questionnaire for Psychosocial Risk Assessment (QPRA) was originally developed in Germany based on recommendations from the Joint German Occupational Health and Safety Strategy (GDA, 2022). The QPRA is a comprehensive assessment tool that meets the requirements of various European occupational health and safety legislations. The tool is regularly used in psychosocial risk assessment projects and has become the standard for the psychosocial risk assessments of insurance companies in Germany (DGUV, 2022).
In this project, we adapt the tool to different national context and investigate how the QPRA can be used for psychosocial risk assessments in other European countries. To achieve this, we have translated the QPRA into a Swedish, Finnish and Dutch version and adapted them to cover all risk factors mentioned in each of the different countries’ national work environment regulations.
The project has three overarching goals:
- To provide a validated questionnaire in four different languages
- To adapt the questionnaire to the national context and create a validated questionnaire that covers a wide range of relevant factors to make a reliable risk assessment of the psychosocial work environment
- To develop a generic tool that meets the legislation of the different countries.
The project's results will not only be disseminated in a research context, but also brought to practitioners, who gain access to a validated work environment questionnaire that can be used nationally but also internationally. The survey tool will also be useful in multinational and multilingual companies in Sweden, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. In the long run, this can not only improve the quality of work environment surveys but even lead to a more sustainable work environment.
Data is collected in each country at the end of 2023 (Finland and Germany) and during 2024 (Netherlands and Sweden). In all countries, people who have a paid job and are between 18-65 years are invited to answer the adapted and translated version of the GPRA online. A wide dissemination of the link to the survey through social media and various platforms on the internet ensures that we receive responses from people in different industries, in different workplaces and in different work roles.
Project members
Project managers
Claudia Bernhard-Oettel
Professor
Members
Tyra Hedin
Master student
Mirjam Nathanson
Master student
Andrea Rosengren
Master student