Well – being at work Akava: Reform the Occupational Safety Act to prevent mental strain

Policy|Well-being at work

High school graduates Akava, the labor market organization, is proposing changes to the law to improve well-being at work.

According to Akava, the occupational safety law should be completely reformed in order to control the growing psychosocial workload. The law should stipulate precisely the prevention of the load and the person’s occupational safety rights and obligations.

For the sake of clarity, Akava would transfer the occupational safety and health co-operation law to the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

“The law was once laid down on the basis of physical work, although the mental load of work has increased considerably and the risk of exhaustion has increased, ”explains Akava’s labor market director Katarina Murto changes.

“The cost of disability is several billion euros a year and has a significant impact on public finances, employment and people’s livelihoods,” Murto recalls.

Last year, 19,100 Finns of working age remained on disability pension, and the number of people on disability pension increased by an average of 52 people of working age every day.

According to Eurostat statistics, in Finland, work matters are also mostly spent on leisure time.

Fresh According to a survey conducted by Akava Works, 46 percent of Akava employees consider burnout to be a high or fairly high risk at work.

“The figure is startling,” Murto estimates.

According to Murro, the reform of the Occupational Safety and Health Act must specify the regulations on the prevention, assessment, measurement and monitoring of mental stress.

“Legislation needs to be comprehensive, up-to-date and binding,” Murto says.

Akava would add provisions to the Act on Accidents at Work and Occupational Diseases on harmful and health-threatening psychosocial stress and burnout.

Akava and its member unions have started the project Welfare at Work, which will continue until February next year.

The campaign also involves Aalto University, the Finnish Center for Pensions, Kela, Keva, Mieli ry, Sitra, the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the National Institute of Occupational Health.