An engineering and psycho-social integrated approach for work related stress (WRS) assessment and management

This paper presents the results of a study finalized to identify a tailored approach to deal with WRS issues of personnel operating in the University of Florence, according to workplace health and safety European legislation. The approach, tested by its application to a case study, aims to merge different academic expertise and integrate some typical WRS methods, above mentioned, with process analysis and optimization ones. The process analysis and optimization methods, although traditionally used in engineering procedures, increasingly find their application in very different contexts. Since each set of objects and people interacting with each other can be considered a system and that any sequence of activities aimed at achieving a goal can be regarded as a process, it follows that the theories and techniques developed for quality systems can become effective in very diverse fields of expertise. Furthermore, the more the systems become complex and processes affect the human sphere, the more it is necessary to overcome the anachronistic disciplinary boundaries. Therefore the challenge was to look at the work-related stress as a process whose variables, once identified, could be measured, analyzed, evaluated and optimized using the correct sequence of process analysis traditional tools. The application of this tools has therefore allowed to investigate the context, to define critical issues and priorities, and finally to develop a set of actions for improvement. This required a wide-ranging expertise on methodologies and the context of application, and a preliminary reflection about the potential impact on the work-system. Furthermore, working with people, in a typical psychosocial research field, necessarily involved the workgroup in looking for the maximum sharing with all the stakeholders (workers, management, leadership) all along the activities. A specific communication and information strategy was implemented; the participants (technical and administrative staff, researchers, faculty professors) had at each stage the chance to ask the workgroup for clarification and support, and to directly express their point of view.