RW - foRWard Health & Wellbeing eMag - Feb26 - Flipbook - Page 43
GOOD psychosocial
WORKING environments
A pathway to thriving workers and strong organisation
If you asked most
people what “workplace
safety” looks like,
they might picture
hard hats, hi vis, and a
spotless incident board.
Important, yes. But the
biggest day to day risks
at work are often less
visible and much more
human: unrelenting
workload, poor support,
bullying, unclear roles,
and constant change
handled badly.
What is a psychosocial
working environment, in
plain terms?
Your psychosocial
working environment is
the everyday experience
of work: job demands,
autonomy, support,
fairness, respect, role
clarity, how con昀氀ict
is managed, and how
change lands on people.
The World Health
Organization (WHO)
That is why the
2026 theme for the
International Labour
Organization’s World
Day for Safety and
Health at Work is “Good
psychosocial working
environments: A pathway
to thriving workers and
strong organisation.”
It is a timely reminder
that the way work is
designed, organised, and
led has a direct impact on
mental health, physical
health, performance,
and whether people can
genuinely thrive.
Why it matters: the cost
of getting it wrong is
enormous
Globally, the WHO
estimates 12 billion
working days are lost
every year to depression
and anxiety, costing about
US$ 1 trillion per year in
lost productivity.
spells it out clearly: poor
working environments,
including excessive
workloads, low job
control, job insecurity,
and discrimination and
inequality can pose risks
to mental health.
A good psychosocial
environment is not about
making everyone happy
all the time. It is about
creating conditions
where people can do
good work without being
harmed by the way work
is set up.
Those numbers are big,
but the human reality is
even bigger: burnout,
chronic stress, workplace
con昀氀ict, increased injuries,
higher turnover, and
leaders trying to hold
teams together with good
intentions and no system.
A strong psychosocial
environment is one of
the few things that can
improve wellbeing, safety,
and performance at the
same time. When people
feel supported and
workloads are realistic, you
typically see fewer errors,
better decision making,
and stronger collaboration.
It is not soft. It is smart.
