{"id":72110,"date":"2026-04-23T18:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=72110"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:11:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T12:41:30","slug":"workplace-wellbeing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-04-2026\/workplace-wellbeing","title":{"rendered":"Workplace Well-being as a Public Health Priority"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/ Governance\/ Health<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A recent report by the International Labour Organization titled <strong>\u201cThe Psychosocial Working Environment: Global Developments and Pathways for Action\u201d <\/strong>states that toxic workplaces contribute to over <strong>8.4 lakh deaths <\/strong>annually worldwide.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are Psychosocial Risks at Work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Psychosocial risks refer to <strong>harmful conditions arising from the way work is designed, organised, and managed.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These risks include high job demands along with <strong>imbalance between effort and reward, job insecurity, long working hours, and workplace harassment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Findings of the Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The report highlights that nearly <strong>45 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) are lost <\/strong>annually, reflecting years of healthy life lost due to illness, disability, or premature death.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It estimates that psychosocial risks result in an <strong>annual loss of about 1.37%<\/strong> of global GDP.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It notes that around <strong>35% of workers globally work more than 48 hours per week, <\/strong>which significantly increases health risks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It finds that nearly <strong>23% of workers have experienced workplace violence or harassment at least once<\/strong>, with psychological harassment being the most prevalent form affecting 18% of workers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Framework for Workplace Well-being<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Global Initiatives:\u00a0<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The ILO\u2013WHO framework on workers\u2019 health promotes <strong>integration of mental health into occupational safety policies<\/strong> and emphasises preventive approaches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>International conventions such as <strong>ILO Convention No. 155 <\/strong>call for national policies on <strong>occupational safety and health, <\/strong>including psychosocial well-being.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Indian Initiatives:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 <\/strong>recognises the right to mental healthcare, which has implications for workplace well-being.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Constitutional Provision: <\/strong>The Directive Principles of State Policy emphasise the responsibility of the State to ensure humane working conditions and improve public health <strong>(Article 42).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Mental Health Programme (NMHP): <\/strong>Implemented under the National Health Mission, the DMHP provides comprehensive mental health services, including counseling and psychosocial interventions, at the community level.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Labour Law Reforms: <\/strong>The <strong>Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code)<\/strong> mandates employers to ensure <strong>safe and humane working conditions, <\/strong>regulate working hours, and provide welfare facilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Challenges in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Informality and Weak Enforcement:<\/strong> A large share of India\u2019s workforce operates in the informal sector, which limits the effective enforcement of occupational safety and psychosocial risk regulations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Invisible Nature of Psychosocial Risks:<\/strong> Psychosocial risks such as stress and harassment remain under-recognised and under-reported due to their intangible nature.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rise of Gig and Platform Work: <\/strong>The expansion of the gig economy has increased job insecurity and algorithm-driven work pressures, intensifying workplace stress.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Implementation Deficit: <\/strong>There exists a significant gap between legal provisions and their actual implementation, particularly in MSMEs with limited compliance capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Workplace policies should formally integrate mental health as a <strong>core component of occupational safety<\/strong>, with mandatory counselling and stress management systems.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strict adherence to reasonable <strong>working hour norms in line with global standards <\/strong>is necessary to reduce health risks associated with overwork.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Organisations should adopt structured mechanisms such as <strong>mental health audits, grievance redressal systems, and anti-harassment frameworks.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/toxic-workplaces-take-lives-of-84-lakh-people-annually-ilo-report\/article70893843.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> A recent report by the International Labour Organization titled \u201cThe Psychosocial Working Environment: Global Developments and Pathways for Action\u201d states that toxic workplaces contribute to over 8.4 lakh deaths annually worldwide. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What are Psychosocial Risks at Work? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Psychosocial risks refer to harmful conditions arising from the way work is designed, organised, and managed. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> These risks include high job demands along with imbalance between effort and reward, job insecurity, long working hours, and workplace harassment. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-04-2026\/workplace-wellbeing \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72110"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72113,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72110\/revisions\/72113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}