this problems sanity produced in the workplace they suffer from a double filter that makes them invisible: to the particular sensitivity of the subject that encourages those who suffer from it to live in private – victims of work stress have no known manifestations. other reasons that threaten the physical safety of workers – Lack of a specific view of the administration against such ailments. In fact, these words are never included in cancellations due to anxiety or depression, and are usually rendered as “”.common contingencies”, which makes it difficult to define them as occupational diseases.
“The unseen is not blocked, and that’s what happens to mental disorders that come up. Stress doesn’t just cause anxiety, also why heart attack and strokesIt is the leading serious cause of occupational accidents,” warns Ana García de la Torre, UGT’s Occupational Health Secretary.
Unions have been demanding this for years. most Social Security update the occupational diseases catalog and take an interest in those with a mental health background. In this sense, the World Health Organization added the ‘burnout’ syndrome – or ‘burned worker’, in 2019 to the international classification of diseases that came into force at the beginning of 2022.
court decisions
Is it time to address stressful situations that affect workers’ health? dictated in recent months various court decisions In Spain he points in this direction. Social Court 5 of Madrid in May 2022, “work accident“a fit of anxiety that an employee suffers from high-stakes work and is sent home with a medical prescription. A month ago, the Court of Justice of Castilla-La Mancha similarly drew attention to a worker’s crisis of anxiety due to confusing orders from his boss.
“Stress not only causes anxiety, it also causes heart attacks and strokes, which are the main cause of work accidents.”
To avoid these situations, the Occupational Risk Prevention Act of 1995 requires companies to “psychosocial risks” threatens its employees. This section includes everything from the conditions in which they perform their duties to the time they devote to themselves, the relationship they have with their boss, or the workload they carry.
“The problem is that most companies don’t have protocols that fix these problems,” says García de la Torre. In 2020, the labor inspection carried out 1,833 actions in many companies for this reason, some files can be fined up to 41,000 euros. “Many jobs are not yet understood that occupational risks do not only occur on site scaffolds,” says Ana Ercoreca, head of the Labor Inspectors’ union. According to him, there is more awareness of “unseen risks” today, but digital jobs created new critical situationsas related right to disconnect. He warns that without rest, there are more opportunities for stress to turn into sick leave.