Work is the field in which adults, and sometimes children, spend a large part of our lives. Occupational health hazards have evolved with the world of work. In addition to the physical, chemical and biological risks, there are new risks arising from globalization, the dominance of the free market, or new technologies. Teleworking, staff downsizing, outsourcing, the increase in working hours and precariousness lead to a threat to physical, mental and social health: psychosocial risks.
The fourth European Survey on Working Conditions found that one in five workers suffers from a stress-related disorder, affecting more than 40 million people.
Accepting that the development of countries takes place at very different speeds and with increasingly noticeable differences, it becomes necessary to exchange experiences, initiatives and practices proposed from all professions and fields that deal with occupational health. Some countries do not even have legislation on psychosocial risks; in most of them, a culture of prevention has not been established and, in others, it is evaluated as a legal imperative without understanding the evaluation of these risks as a prior and essential step for intervention.
That is why this international meeting is an invaluable opportunity for multidisciplinary exchange between countries, research groups and health and prevention professionals. We must not forget that we live in an increasingly complex and changing world. The development of the productive forces grows unstoppably, and so does the knowledge and availability of new technologies and industrial processes, generating new problems.
Therefore, in this International Congress, the Network of Researchers on Psychosocial Factors at Work, A.C. (RIFAPT) and the University of Zaragoza from Spain convene all those who want to contribute knowledge, research and intervention methodologies, as well as experiences. The aim is to join forces, from a broad and multidisciplinary perspective, so that work ceases to be a source of suffering, discomfort and illness and recovers its creative and humanizing value.
