Authors/Autoren: Ivon Ames M.Sc, EVAO GmbH, Königstein/Taunus, Prof. Dr. Jan Dettmers, FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen/Germany, und Dr. Miriam Rexroth, Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie (BG RCI), Heidelberg/Germany
What was investigated?
The focus was on the FGBU questionnaire (Dettmers & Krause, 2020), a tool for assessing mental stress in the workplace. A total of 32 companies with 9,413 employees participated in the study – a diverse group representing a wide range of industries. Using the questionnaire, the
What was investigated?
The focus was on the FGBU questionnaire (Dettmers & Krause, 2020), a tool for assessing mental stress in the workplace. A total of 32 companies with 9,413 employees participated in the study – a diverse group representing a wide range of industries. Using the questionnaire, the participants assessed their working conditions and provided information about burnout and physical complaints.
Key findings
The analyses confirmed earlier studies that showed that good working conditions are associated with fewer health impairments and poor conditions with higher health impairments. The study also showed that the work-related psychological stress factors measured in the psyBel questionnaire can predict not only burnout but also physical complaints.
It is particularly exciting that average values of work groups, e. g. teams, can predict well whether there is a risk for individual employees to develop burnout or psychosomatic complaints (physical complaints caused by psychological stress). This means that we can identify health risks precisely and anonymously at the same time, without endangering the data protection of individuals.
Practical application
This is a real benefit for operational practice: the careful formation of the groups of activities to be evaluated is of fundamental importance for the quality of the risk assessment. It is important to find an appropriate balance between a group size that conforms to data protection and workplaces that are as comparable as possible and have a similar stress situation.
The PROGRESS research project thus shows that the FGBU questionnaire and the evaluation at group level enable a precise and anonymous diagnosis of working conditions in need of optimisation. If it is possible to identify specific areas of stressful working conditions, it is possible to take targeted action and implement measures that are tailored to the specific situation. In this way, working conditions can be improved and the health of employees promoted.
The data also confirm the transferability of the methods to various health indicators, which underscores the importance of this approach for risk assessment of mental stress and workplace health promotion. It was also shown that this applies to individuals from a wide range of industries.
Further information and support
You have not yet conducted a risk assessment of mental stress? Would you like to know how to proceed? Our psyBel survey instrument and all other offers and information on risk assessment of mental stress can be found at www.bgrci.de/psybel. You are also welcome to take advantage of our online consultations on the topic or find out about our experience exchange in December 2025 and secure a place.
If you have had any experience with the psyBel survey, please feel free to send us your feedback at psybel@bgrci.de.
Authors/Autoren: Ivon Ames M.Sc, EVAO GmbH, Königstein/Taunus, Prof. Dr. Jan Dettmers, FernUniversität in Hagen, Hagen/Germany, und Dr. Miriam Rexroth, Berufsgenossenschaft Rohstoffe und chemische Industrie (BG RCI), Heidelberg/Germany