Mental health and working conditions at the center of the global debate

The International Labour Organization warns that long working hours, harassment and work organization pose growing risks for millions of workers.

On April 28, the International Labour Organization (ILO) observed the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Through this annual day, the ILO seeks to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases around the world. It is a global campaign that can help reduce work-related deaths and injuries.

On this occasion, the ILO highlights the importance of the psychosocial environment at work and the way in which it is designed, organized and managed on a daily basis. Psychosocial factors, notably workload and working time, role clarity, autonomy, support and fair and transparent processes, influence the way work is experienced and have an impact on workers' safety, health and performance.

The ILO stresses that when psychosocial factors affect workers negatively, they become risks that, like physical or biological ones, must be addressed and managed to guarantee safe and healthy workplaces.

In 2026, the ILO is publishing a global report with a prevention-centered approach, which in turn analyzes psychosocial factors in terms of jobs, the way work is managed and organized, and the policies, practices and procedures that govern it.

The psychosocial environment at work

The ILO report reveals alarming figures on mortality linked to cardiovascular disease, mental disorders resulting from long working hours, violence and harassment. The text also highlights the need to integrate mental health into national regulatory frameworks and to foster social dialogue in order to implement effective preventive measures that are sustained over time.

In addition, the document proposes a multi-level perspective for understanding the psychosocial environment, focusing on characteristics that can be managed to minimize risks and promote well-being at work. According to this perspective, elements related to job design, the way work is organized and managed, and the institutional policies governing employment must be integrated, considering how these factors influence not only workers' health but also the organization's performance.

Among the central elements presented in the ILO report is that of the job itself, which focuses on the characteristics of work tasks and responsibilities. This level is directly influenced by job demands and how well they match the worker's skills, as well as access to the resources needed to carry out the activity and aspects of task design, such as variety and meaning, and the opportunity to use one's own skills.

The document also emphasizes the management and organization of work, which covers how work activity is structured and experienced on a daily basis. What matters here are factors such as role clarity, the degree of autonomy and control over workload and pace of work, together with the quality of supervision, the social support available and the nature of interactions among coworkers in the workplace.

Finally, the document mentions the third level, which involves the policies, practices and procedures that define the framework of organizational and institutional systems. This includes critical aspects such as the organization of working time, reward and performance systems, occupational safety and health oversight, as well as measures aimed at preventing violence and harassment and the mechanisms that allow for the consultation and active participation of workers.

Along these lines, the ILO maintains that the interaction of these three levels in specific contexts is what determines whether the work environment promotes health or generates psychosocial hazards with adverse outcomes. It also recommends that prevention measures be addressed collectively, because a single action can often have a positive impact on multiple interacting risk factors. 
For the ILO, the way forward requires coordinated action across research, regulatory frameworks and the immediate work environment. At the same time, the organization concludes that although not all hazards can be completely eliminated, it is possible to significantly reduce risks by improving work design and management, through firm leadership commitment and the active participation of workers, thus ensuring work environments that support health and organizational performance in a comprehensive and sustained manner. 

Guillermo Whpei

President of Fundación para la Democracia