Background
In 2013 psychological risk assessment at the workplace became compulsory for organizations in Austria and Germany. Specifically, this regulation presents the hospital sector, which has traditionally been characterized by few developed activities for employee health promotion, with new incentives for taking specific measures that reduce psychosocial work-related risk factors for employees.
Method
All 45 hospitals in 2 Austrian states were contacted in written form and then via telephone. In total, 29 agreed to a subsequent telephone interview regarding the state of the risk assessment and the method employed.
Results
The implementation of psychological risk assessment in Austrian hospitals is in full swing: either the assessment has already been completed, is in progress or in preparation. Nevertheless, the methods and instruments used vary largely. Often, very simple but less informative instruments are used. In 54% of the cases, respondents relied on an in-house assessment, typically performed by residential industrial psychologists or company physicians. This may be problematic as it involves potential for internal conflicts.
Conclusion
Even if the implementation of psychological risk assessment is very advanced in Austrian hospitals, the frequent application of partly unfitting, partly superficial instruments does not meet the requirements of the complex reality in healthcare professions. Therefore, the benefits of psychological risk assessments are not expected to yield their full potential.