Job-related stress great concern in Europe, poll finds

Bilbao, Spain – Most Europeans are concerned about a potential increase of workers suffering from job-related stress in the next five years, according to a poll (.pdf file) released March 27 by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

While 8 out of 10 working people across 36 European countries believe work-related stress among people will increase, 52 percent believe it will “increase a lot.”

The poll also found that most Europeans agree that good occupational safety and health is important for economic competitiveness and to help people work longer before retirement. Nearly three-fourths of European workers are confident that any occupational safety and health problem raised with a supervisor would be addressed, and most Europeans feel generally well-informed about occupational safety and health.

A total of 35,540 adults were interviewed for the 2011/2012 Pan-European opinion poll on occupational safety and health, with about 1,000 interviews being conducted in most of the 36 European countries surveyed.