«Twenty years ago someone would think that this is because people are very lazy and do not want to work, but now we are in another reality and this It's a really serious problem. "because of the consequences it has on a personal and professional level," Santiago Gascón, psychologist and professor at the University of Zaragoza and director of the Devoture chair, explains to this newspaper.
La Red Aragonese of Permanent Psychosocial Prevention, which will be presented publicly on the 20th, has a multidisciplinary team from doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, labor law experts or jurists. «We have captured the attention of many companies that see prevention as key. People realize that "It is much cheaper to do prevention than the expenses generated by a loss."explains Gascón. «Work stress tends to refuse when made public, but if it is approached as a problem of the organization and not as a weakness of the person, it is possible to prevent it like other risks," he argues.
The initiative, which has received a subsidy from the Government of Aragon, is supported in part by the effects of the pandemic. «The problems have grown and we are paying for it. There are work demands that exceed the capabilities of the worker, and he feels overwhelmed to cope with them," says Gascón.
More work absenteeism
The way the problem is triggered is simple. «The person usually goes through a period in which he tries to fulfill different tasks, assumes the burden by prolonging his day and brings problems into his personal life. This process can lead to psychopathologies, commonly accompanied by psychosomatic disorders», Anade.
A space for exchange and advice
The experiences in prevention and health promotion that are already in force in certain companies or administrations of Aragon will serve, in this network, to generate a space for exchange, advice and mutual help between the sectors involved. "The goal is to establish a preventive culture in companies, provide them with advice and also training with courses and seminars that will be taught from the university, as well as workshops, learning to manage conflicts or different ways of employee participation," says Gascón.
These situations, with a "high level of stress", also have effects on "poor performance for the company", since according to experts Cases of absenteeism and higher accident rates due to errors are increasing. "The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work indicates that half of employees consider that stress is present in their work environment," says Gascón.
The work of the network will consist of detect weak points, through an evaluation of workers and companies, to know what the source of this stress is. "They are generated progressively and can be in different phases, so we must detect their first indicators to design intervention programs," Gascón clarifies.
In this sense, it is believed that intervention on the organization has shown "greater achievements" than that aimed at improving individual strategies, although the combination of both types can offer optimal results.
