Stakeholder Workshop - Berlin, Germany, 24-25, January 2008
Aim of the Workshop As part of the project activities, a Stakeholder Workshop was organised in Berlin on 24-25, January 2008 by Bundesanstal fuer Arbeitsschutz und Arbeitsmedizin – BAuA, Germany (Federal Institute of Occupational Safety & Health). The central goal of the ‘Stakeholder Workshop’ was to explore the opinions and perspectives of stakeholders and experts in relation to psychosocial risks at work and work-related stress, including physical and psychological workplace violence. The workshop was based on the principles of European Social Dialogue which is a unique and indispensable component of the European social model.
Proceedings
Isabel Rothe, President of BAuA, opened the workshop with a brief welcome address and presentation on BAuA. She highlighted the importance of psychosocial issues and psychosocial risk management. She said that psychosocial risks are on the increase and they demand strong action and require strong solutions.
Stavroula Leka, PRIME-EF project manager, welcomed and thanked all participants for their attendance and participation. She gave a short summary of the project, and its key objectives, outlined its added value at the EU-level, and how it can be used for the promotion of effective psychosocial risk management.
Over the two days presentations were made by key stakeholders, these set the theme for the focus group discussions:
Eusebio Rial-González from European Agency for Safety and Health at Work did a presentation titled: ‘Work-related stress in the EU: recent developments’ highlighting the importance of psychosocial risks and in their management for the European Agency.
Tobias Müllensiefen from DG Employment of the European Commission presented the development and Implementation of the Social Partners´ Framework Agreement on Work-Related Stress. He spoke of the importance of social dialogue in developing policy.
Christa Sedlatschek from BAuA spoke about the recent developments in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the EU highlighting that CSR has a long tradition in Europe and there is a need to link CSR with health and safety at work. She further highlighted that stakeholders are important in this process and that CSR is not a substitution for legislation.