Various psychosocial work factors were found to be associated with sickness absence. A less conservative analysis exploring each factor separately provided a still higher number of risk factors. Preventive measures should take psychosocial work environment more comprehensively into account to reduce sickness absence and improve health at work at European level.

Differences in psychosocial work exposures were found between countries. This study is the first to compare a large set of psychosocial work exposures between 31 European countries. These findings may be useful to guide prevention policies at European level.

Social firms (SFs) are an appealing model for people with a mental health condition who are having difficulties maintaining their employment in a competitive labour market. The goal of this study is to compare the availability of work accommodations in two types of Canadian SFs, by interviewing supervisors working in adapted enterprises and consumer/survivor-run businesses, and by obtaining the perceptions of the workers with a mental health condition regarding the usefulness of these accommodations. Results indicate accommodations in both types of SFs are readily available and useful. A significant difference between the two types of SFs is the availability of a job coach whose presence workers found useful in adapted enterprises. Natural supports from stakeholders (e.g., supervisors, job coach) are important for work sustainability.

This study is the first one to provide fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to three psychosocial work factors for the whole Europe and to explore the differences between 31 countries. These results may be useful to guide European and national prevention policies as well as to evaluate the economic costs of diseases attributable to these exposures.

Little was known about the effectiveness of organizational or psychosocial work interventions to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). We found moderate evidence of the effectiveness of supplementary rest breaks. We also identify key elements of ergonomic interventions lacking in the interventions reviewed that, if integrated into future studies and shown to be effective, may lead to advances in MSD prevention.

This study evaluated the costs of work-related stress in France. Three illnesses--cardiovascular diseases, depression, musculoskeletal diseases and back pain--that may result from exposure to stress are identified and the proportions of cases attributable to the risk factor are calculated from epidemiological studies. Two methodological hypotheses allow us to provide complementary evaluations of the social cost of occupational stress and raise the ethical questions inherent in the choice of methodology. For the year 2000 our model shows that of a working population of 23.53 million in France some 310,000-393,400 persons (1.3-1.7%) were affected by illnesses attributable to work-related stress, and that 2,300-3,600 persons died as a result of their illness. Work-related stress costs society between Euro 1,167 million and Euro 1,975 million in France, or 14.4-24.2% of the total spending of social security occupational illnesses and work injuries branch.

Continued work in this area can provide guidance for organizations in the open labor market addressing the challenges posed by the work integration of people with severe mental illness. Implications for Rehabilitation: Work integration of people with severe mental disorders is difficult because of limited access to supportive and nondiscriminatory workplaces. Social enterprise represents an effective model for supporting people with severe mental disorders to integrate the labor market. In the social enterprise workplace, social support yields better perceptions of work productivity through lower levels of internalized stigma and higher confidence in facing job-related problems.

Objectives The objectives of this study were to provide the fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to five psychosocial work exposures, i.e. job strain, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity, long working hours, and bullying in Europe (35 countries, including 28 European Union countries), for each one and all countries together, in 2015. Methods The prevalences of exposure were estimated using the sample of 35,571 employees from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) for all countries together and each country separately. Relative risks (RR) were obtained via literature reviews and meta-analyses already published. The studied outcomes were: coronary/ischemic heart diseases (CHD), stroke, atrial fibrillation, peripheral artery disease, venous thromboembolism, and depression. Attributable fractions (AF) for each exposure and overall AFs for all exposures together were calculated. Results The AFs of depression were all significant: job strain (17%), job insecurity (9%), bullying (7%), and effort-reward imbalance (6%). Most of the AFs of cardiovascular diseases were significant and lower than 11%. Differences in AFs were observed between countries for depression and for long working hours. Differences between genders were found for long working hours, with higher AFs observed among men than among women for all outcomes. Overall AFs taking all exposures into account ranged between 17 and 35% for depression and between 5 and 11% for CHD. Conclusion The overall burden of depression and cardiovascular diseases attributable to psychosocial work exposures was noticeable. As these exposures are modifiable, preventive policies may be useful to reduce the burden of disease associated with the psychosocial work environment.