Managing job stress in the Netherlands

Compared with other countries, in the Netherlands work pressure and sicknes s absenteeism and work incapacitation rates due to work-related mental heal th problems are quite high. About a decade ago a new Working Conditions Act (WCA) was introduced that had far-reaching consequences for the way job st ress is dealt with in organizations. The WCA emphasizes the central role to be played by commercially operating Occupational Health and Safety Service s (OHSSs), and it defines a new kind of professional-the Work & Organizatio nal Expert-who is primarily responsible for the assessment and prevention o f job stress, Recently, a number of instruments have been developed or psyc hosocial risk assessment that are now widely used on a regular basis in a w ay prescribed by the WCA. Preventive measures are increasingly taken by org anizations in order to reduce job stress and sickness absenteeism. Based on the Dutch approach some lessons may be learned. Recommendations pertain to (1) the role of government, (2) legal recognition of psychosocial work fac tors, (3) the privatization of the occupational health and safety sector, a nd (4) evaluation of job stress prevention programs.