The difference between stressor (Belastung) and strain (Beanspruchung) in occupational psychology lies in their definition and effect:

Stressor (Belastung) describes all external, objective factors that act on a person in the workplace. Stressors can be of a physical, psychological, or social nature and include, for example, the working environment (noise, temperature), work tasks (difficulty, complexity), and work organization (working hours, break schedules). A stressor is therefore what comes at a person from the outside and can initially be viewed neutrally.

Strain, on the other hand, describes the individual, subjective reaction to these stressors. It strongly depends on a person's personal condition, experience, knowledge, and abilities. Thus, a specific stressor can lead to varying levels of strain depending on the individual. Strain can manifest as stress, fatigue, frustration, or even positive challenges, representing the actual impact that the stressor has on the person.

In summary:

Stressors = external working conditions
Strain = individual impact of these conditions on the person

Evaluation in the context of employee protection is a systematic process in which hazards to safety and health at work are identified and assessed. According to the Employee Protection Act (AT) or the Occupational Health and Safety Act (DE), employers are obliged to evaluate activities and work processes and to record this process and its results in safety and health protection documents. Subsequently, suitable measures to eliminate or minimize the hazards must be determined and implemented. Since 2013, the mandatory risk assessment has explicitly included psychological stress at work.
The subjectively experienced strain and feelings of individuals are not the subject of workplace evaluation.

Every employer, starting from the very first employee.

The goal is to assess hazards in as standardized and structured a manner as possible. The measures subsequently defined should target the root cause and have a collective effect, thereby bringing about a continuous improvement in working conditions.

In the event of an inspection, compliance with the aforementioned 7 steps and the use of a suitable tool in accordance with the ISO 10075 standard will be reviewed. The identified mental strains and the measures derived from them must be documented in the company's occupational health and safety records.

The members of a survey group should perform comparable activities under similar conditions. Grouping them by departments is the most logical approach here.

Every employer is obliged to continuously review and adapt measures to improve occupational health and safety. A 1 to 2-year cycle for evaluation is recommended and accepted by legislators.

In accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the psychosocial risk assessment must be updated "whenever working conditions change."

Examples of this include the introduction of new working materials, changes to work processes and activities, as well as the occurrence of incidents or accidents.

Companies that do not conduct a psychosocial risk assessment risk legal consequences. Depending on the severity of the violation, this can mean a fine or even imprisonment for the employer, especially if the health or life of an employee is endangered as a result.

Section 5 of the ASchG regulates workplace evaluation. This section obligates employers to identify and assess hazards, as well as to determine measures and document them.

§5 ASchG Assessment of working conditions

(1) By assessing the risks associated with employees' work, the employer must determine what occupational health and safety measures are necessary.

(2) The employer must carry out the assessment according to the nature of the activities. For similar working conditions, the assessment of a single workplace or activity is sufficient.

(3) A hazard may arise in particular from

1. the design and layout of the workplace and workstation,
2. physical, chemical, and biological influences,
3. the design, selection, and use of work equipment, in particular working substances, machinery, devices, and systems, as well as handling them,
4. the design of work and production processes, workflows, and working hours, and how they interact,
5. inadequate qualification and instruction of employees,
6. psychological stress at work.

Legal provisions for evaluation in Austria:

The obligation to evaluate psychological strain at work has been explicitly anchored in the Austrian Occupational Health and Safety Act (ASchG) since 2013. Additionally, it is highlighted as a special evaluation obligation in Section 68 Paragraph 1 of the ASchG.

Employee Protection Act (ASchG, BGBl. 450/1994):

§ 4 (Hazard identification and determination of measures)
§ 5 (Documentation)
§ 7 (Principles of hazard prevention)

In Germany, trade oversight authorities and regulatory agencies of the respective federal states are responsible for monitoring compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act, including psychosocial risk assessments. They conduct inspections and review occupational safety measures in companies. On the other hand, accident insurance institutions (e.g., professional associations) play an important role, as they not only monitor compliance with regulations but also offer advice and training on risk assessments. They can impose sanctions in the event of violations.

In Austria, the Labour Inspection Authority is primarily responsible: As the central authority overseeing employee protection, it checks whether companies properly carry out risk assessments, including psychological stress factors. In the event of violations, the labour inspection authority can take action or impose fines.

Both countries rely on a combination of inspections and preventive measures to ensure that risk assessments are carried out properly.

You create the Care survey at login.persentis.com and distribute the survey link to your employees. Once the survey is completed, the results are immediately available in the dashboard.

Additionally, you can download a PDF report. You will also receive the legally required progress form as well as a certificate confirming the scientifically sound methodology of PERSENTIS Care.

Critical areas are clearly highlighted. These can then be addressed with internal specialists, working groups, or experts from the PERSENTIS network.

The effectiveness of the measures can subsequently be reviewed in a targeted manner – for example, with individual additional questions in another PERSENTIS analysis or a pulse survey.

Would you like to get to know PERSENTIS Care beforehand?
Our guide takes you step-by-step through the user interface and shows you how a care evaluation is structured – completely without obligation and without registration. OPEN GUIDE

The obligation to document is enshrined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act (DE § 5 and § 6 ArbSchG / AT ASchG, § 4 and § 5). Accordingly, all companies are legally required to document the risk assessment.

The documentation must show that the risk assessment was carried out appropriately, what measures were taken, and whether the employee's protection goals were achieved. The documentation can be kept in paper form or as electronically stored files.

With your PERSENTIS Care report, you receive a certificate confirming the conceptual, professional, and methodological quality of the survey process as well as a documentation form where you can enter responsibilities and planned measures.

In GERMANY, companies that fail to meet their obligation to conduct a psychosocial risk assessment (GB-Psych) can expect substantial penalties:

Fines: Non-compliance with legal requirements can result in fines of up to 25,000 euros

Legal consequences: In the worst-case scenario, this can lead to personal criminal liability for the managing director. This can result in prison sentences of up to one year or correspondingly higher fines.

Other potential consequences: Closure of the affected work area, recourse claims by insurance companies in the event of a workplace accident

These penalties are generally only imposed after the company has been requested by the competent authority to carry out the risk assessment and has failed to comply with this request within a set deadline

AUSTRIA: Failure to conduct the mental health evaluation in Austria may result in the following penalties pursuant to § 130 para. 1 no. 5 ASchG:

First offense: Fine from €166 to €8,324
Repeat offense: Fine from €333 to €16,659

Due to the changing world of work, psychological strain is increasingly becoming the focus of occupational health and safety and corporate health management. According to European Standard EN ISO 10075-1, which forms the basis for employee protection and particularly the 2013 amendment regarding the evaluation of psychological strain, this is defined as "the totality of all measurable external influences that affect a person and have a psychological impact on them".

Therefore, this is not about measuring job satisfaction, burnout, performance, stress, or similar factors in individual employees, but exclusively about the conditions under which work takes place. It examines which work-related factors can potentially lead to psychological strain in order to identify and improve them in a targeted manner.

In 23 EU countries, the systematic recording of the strain situation is explicitly anchored in law.