European Trade Union Committee for Education

ETUCE and EFFE (European Federation of Education Employers) launched a short online survey among their member organisations on the prevention of psychosocial hazards, such as work-related stress (WRS), in the education sector. The online survey aimed to collect evidence on existing occupational health and safety legislation, social partner agreements and measures, and actions undertaken at school level as regards the prevention of psychosocial hazards and WRS. ETUCE has been supported by the research team FFAW (Freiburg research centre for occupational science) in Germany in carrying out the survey.

The preliminary results show, that out of the 59 organisation which participated in the survey, 19% implemented or participated in social partner initiatives on the prevention of WRS. They were developing more opportunities for professional development, tackling bullying and harassment among students and preventing third party violence against teachers. The most important success factors as well as the greatest challenges for measures are the allocation of sufficient time and financial resources. Furthermore the cooperation between social partners and involvement of social partners can be defined as decisive success factor. Other factors which challenged initiatives on the prevention of WRS were the lack of support by the employers in education and insufficient training and prevention measures. The most successful initiatives were involved in the area of reduction of job insecurity, improvement of relationships between teachers and parents and above all in collecting data on teachers' WRS.

The final survey results are to be summarised in the research report and discussed at the training seminars in Madrid and London and presented at the final conference in June 2016.

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