Press Release No. 02/2013 IG Metall Executive Board Member Urban: “Federal Government Falls Short on Stress Prevention”

Berlin – IG Metall has called on the federal government to take decisive action against work-related stress and burnout by enacting a concrete anti-stress regulation. “The amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act passed before Christmas fall far short of what is needed,” said Hans-Jürgen Urban, executive board member of IG Metall, on Friday in Berlin. “While explicitly naming psychological stress as a subject of risk assessments in the Occupational Safety and Health Act is a first small step in the right direction, only an effective anti-stress regulation can better protect workers from overload and burnout.”

Without such a long-overdue regulation, IG Metall believes it remains unclear which psychological stress factors should be included in a risk assessment and according to what criteria these assessments should be conducted. Likewise, adequate and effective monitoring by occupational safety authorities requires concrete regulations. “Such a regulation—which is now also being called for by the federal states—could usefully supplement the clarifications made in the Occupational Safety and Health Act,” said Urban. “Only then can effective practical guidance and greater legal certainty be established in workplaces.” Urban once again called on the federal government and Minister Ursula von der Leyen to resume discussions on this matter as soon as possible so that they can work together to close the glaring gap in protection against psychological hazards.