A strong evidence base shows that work is good for health and well-being, yet surveys and studies dating back to the 1990s show that stress in the workplace is on the rise. In this context, the announcement by the Director General in 2017 paved the way for a dedicated multidisciplinary project team built around members of HR, HSE along with the Staff Association and the Ombud to investigate ways to promote and improve the quality of working life at CERN, in particular to identify, remedy, and prevent stress in the workplace.

On the occasion of a dedicated HR Public Session on 1 April 2019, the project team presented their recommendations, based on a series of input gathered outside CERN, as well as results of the focus groups and of the survey to which many members of personnel participated in June 2018 (slides and recording available on https://indico.cern.ch/event/803873/).

This session was a key milestone for the project team and for CERN. The key recommendations and main areas for improvement have been clearly identified for the implementation of a comprehensive, tailored CERN stress prevention programme to be implemented as of this year. The programme aims to provide tangible actions with proposed interventions at the individual, team, and organisational levels, focusing on reducing stress factors, increasing individual resilience and enhancing existing support systems.

The project recommendations cover three key strands: awareness, prevention and training. While the awareness raising campaign is being finalised for launch later this year, a first dedicated training session open to CERN members of the personnel is now available. This training course entitled "Experience Resilience (90 minute workshop)” is intended to be highly interactive, providing opportunities to understand how best to mobilise one’s resources, proactively build resilience and experiment a few “resilient practices”.

Furthermore, a training course is under development for persons with managerial responsibilities to assist them with a better understanding of their own role with respect to its impact in promoting healthy working conditions. The aim is also to facilitate the opportunity to have an open dialogue when signs or symptoms of chronic stress appear. Watch this space for more details!

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Further information, resources and announcements will be regularly posted on our webpages https://cern.ch/hr/wwfw. You can also follow us on the WWFW workplace group or contact us with your questions, comments or suggestions on workwellfeelwell-feedback@cern.ch.