Job stress, a reality. Which prevention, which actors with which tools?

The symposium " Le stress au travail, une réalité. Quelle prévention ? Quels acteurs et quels outils ? " occurred on 1-2 February 2007 in Nancy (France) meeting 700 participants (managers, human resources staff, workers, occupational physicians, hygienists, etc. ). The main objectives were to demystify job stress prevention and more widely the psychosocial risks and to stimulate the actors of the occupational prevention in firms to take into account psychosocial risks as much as the other occupational risks.
The program detailed the different steps of the preventive approach on job stress (see booklets INRS ED 6011 and 6012) which were illustrated by several experiences in firms and put in the broader context by experts.
In the first morning session several conferences reminded the definitions of psychosocial risks and job stress, its sources, its health effects and economical consequences whereas the last session dealt with institutional resources available to help firms to engage a prevention approach on psychosocial risks. Finally a manager and an expert of the field performed the synthesis jointly.