3. How to identify mental health risks?

• A workplace survey is one way for a supervisor to obtain information about psychosocial workload. The workplace survey is carried out by the occupational health care service provider. The workplace survey is conducted as a basic survey whenever the workplace and occupational health care service provider starts their co-operation, the work or working conditions change significantly, on the basis of information accumulated in occupational health care and according to the schedule specified in the occupational health care action plan.
• The workplace survey studies work and the work environment regardless of who is working.
• Possible tools of a workplace survey include workplace visits, surveys and discussion of work and working conditions as well as key resource and stress factors.
• Workplace surveys are divided into basic surveys and targeted surveys according to the extent and accuracy of the survey. Psychosocial factors must also be included in the basic survey. A basic survey may identify the need to investigate psychosocial factors more closely and to conduct a targeted workplace survey.
• In addition to the findings of a basic survey, a survey aimed at psychosocial factors may be based on, for example, the high frequency of stress symptoms observed in occupational health care or a long-standing conflict situation in the work community. As a supervisor, you can be in contact with the occupational health care service provider about the need for a possible targeted survey.
• The workplace survey requires co-operation between the workplace and the occupational health care service provider who will prepare a written report describing the observations made about the work, the assessment of health impacts, the significance related to work ability and the proposals for measures.
• Proposals for measures should be discussed at the workplace, for example, in a feedback meeting organized in co-operation with the occupational health care service provider.

• Supervisors can also be informed of stress factors with an employee's declaration or request for clarification.
• Employees can inform their employer of the workload with an Occupational Safety And Health Administration form. It is the responsibility of the supervisor, upon becoming aware of the matter, to clarify the matter and to provide the employee with a response as to what action has been taken due to their report.
• The employee also has the opportunity to request, with justified reason, the occupational health care service provider's assessment of their workload. Employees can make a request to the occupational health care service provider or supervisor.
• A justified reason for an assessment performed by the occupational health care service provider is that the work has already caused symptoms. If the supervisor receives a request, it is their responsibility to take the matter forward in co-operation with the occupational health care service provider. The process can also be initiated through occupational health negotiations.

• A risk assessment is a statutory activity in the workplace (Occupational Safety and Health Act 738/2002).
• The employer must analyse and identify the hazards and risk factors caused by the work, the work premises, other aspects of the work environment and the working conditions. If a hazard cannot be eliminated, its significance for the health and safety of the employees must be assessed by the employer.
• The occupational health care service provider participates in the risk assessment upon request. Since the workplace survey and risk assessment as specified in the Finnish Occupational Health Care Act and Occupational Health and Safety Act, respectively, contain the same things, it saves resources to do them at the same time.

• Systematically collected reliable information, which is best produced with personnel surveys, serves management and supervisors’ need for information in many ways. It allows for assessing the performance of units in relation to other similar units. Based on this information, it is possible to identify the strengths and sore points of operations and well-being at work.
• In the long term, the survey information provides an opportunity to assess the development of the unit's operations and to examine the effectiveness of the development measures taken. When the supervisor considers whether it is worth conducting a survey, the most important question is how the results of the survey will be used.

Supervisors may also receive information on psychosocial risks through occupational safety and health co-operation. Occupational safety and health co-operation is a joint activity of the employer and employees to promote health and safety at work. In the co-operation, the employer is represented by the occupational safety officer and the employees are represented by the elected occupational safety representatives.