Using Multiple-Methods Approach to Tackle Stress and Promote Well-being at Work. Evidence From a Study in a Subcontracting Company

The paper develops a critical reflection on the guidelines on the assessment of risks to health related to stress at work issued by the Italian advisory committee for health and safety at work. In doing so, the authors make reference to the recommendations of the European Framework Agreement on work-related stress and the general principles of prevention introduced by the European and Italian legislation. Thus, they set forth an alternative approach, which combines quantitative data about workers’ perceptions of work organization and occupational well-being dimensions, with an in-depth organizational analysis of work processes, which permits to identify the organizational decisions giving rise to and allowing for the prevention of problems of work-related stress. The paper illustrates how qualitative and quantitative methods can be combined to assess and prevent risks to health related to stress at work in a subcontracting company. The analysis shows that both methods yield to similar results highlighting that workload is one of the most critical conditions of work in the case under analysis. The concluding section identifies some potential areas of intervention to eliminate the potential sources of stress in the work processes under investigation, and discusses the suitability of the proposed approach to assist employers and other OH&S operators in putting in place interventions covering the organizational conditions of work as a whole, as required by EU and national law.