Psychosocial risk assessment: start with the standard survey

The psychosocial risk assessment is not optional, it is a legal duty — and the way in is an anonymous survey of 24 questions that takes ten minutes to answer.

Why does this assessment have to exist?

Since 2013, § 5 of the German Occupational Safety and Health Act (ArbSchG) has explicitly named psychosocial strain at work as part of the risk assessment. That makes it an employer duty, not an optional extra of occupational health management — regardless of company size or industry. An organisation that has never carried it out has a gap in its occupational safety record that any inspection can find. The guide Psychosocial risk assessment sums up the duty, the methods and the simplifications for smaller companies.

What does the standard survey ask?

The survey follows the topic areas of the German GDA guideline: work content and tasks, work organisation, social relationships, and the working environment. Every question is answered on two axes — how strongly does this apply, and how much does it strain me. That double reading is what separates a risk assessment from a mood poll: not every demand is a hazard; what matters is the strain that follows from it.

Why is anonymity not a setting but a precondition?

The survey is permanently anonymous — answers cannot be traced back to individuals, and results only ever appear as a group picture. That is not a comfort feature: it is the condition for honest answers and for keeping the collection lawful under data protection rules.

How do you actually start?

Create the survey, adjust the questions for this run if you need to (hide individual items, reword them for your organisation), invite participants, read the results as a group evaluation. The topic areas that stand out are where your measures start — and the assessment is documented. If you need more depth, take the COPSOQ instead of the standard survey. When the assessment has to be repeated is explained in the guide Repeating the psychosocial risk assessment.