Competence Centre for Work and Health

Diagnostics, psychology and medicine

Psychological and mental stress - how to recognise, reduce and prevent it

Increasingly, companies want to use corporate health management methods in order to maintain and improve the health of their workforce. More attention is now also being paid to mental and psychological strain and stress, as these are critical factors when assessing health risks. But how can such strain and stress be recognised and reduced? And how can it be done efficiently without giving rise to excessive expense?

The MPI (Medical and Psychological Institute) of TÜV NORD provides the answer in the form of a three-stage procedure which helps every organisation to find the right concept for their particular needs and situation:  

1. An occupational health practitioner or an expert in the field of occupational health and safety at work assesses the stress of employees based on general evaluation procedures.
2. The stress is measured by an occupational health practitioner in greater depth. Tests are performed to establish if stress has already occurred because of stressful experiences, mental saturation or other negative influences that affect employees' ability and readiness to perform well.
3. If the problems are considered severe, mental and psychological strain and stress are recorded using the comprehensive procedure known as moderated risk assessment.

What is moderated risk assessment?
During moderated risk assessment, mental and psychological strain and stress are systematically recorded and measures to reduce them are considered, developed, agreed upon, implemented and their success evaluated.

Experienced industrial psychologists from TÜV NORD moderate workshops attended by members of the organisation's management, along with employees' representatives and also the employees who will be particularly involved in the stress measurements.

Procedures are used which fulfil the specified quality criteria. Qualitative methods of inquiry make it easier to draw conclusions regarding effective interventions for stress reduction. 

What does moderated risk assessment achieve?
By combining diagnostics, recommendation of possibilities for intervention and their subsequent evaluation, moderated risk assessment makes it possible to reduce mental and psychological strain and stress effectively and sustainably. 
This - along with the fact that their own specific proposals for improvements are implemented as far as possible - means that employees gain greater satisfaction from their work. Enhanced capability and readiness to perform generally go hand in hand with perceptible improvements in productivity, sales and profits.

Objectivity, independence and neutrality
... are absolutely essential, and all engineers, occupational health practitioners and industrial psychologists who undertake assessments are obliged to maintain them. This is of great importance both for management and for employee representatives. The assurance of objectivity, independence and neutrality means that the data collected is reliable and comprehensive, and that all interventions suitable and necessary in order to sustainably reduce mental and psychological stress and strain are in fact proposed.

We offer practical support!
The team at the MPI of TÜV NORD Mobilität GmbH & Co. KG will be there to help you with all the stages involved in preparation, performance and implementation of the moderated risk assessment - offering both advice and practical assistance.

Fit enough to drive?

If you are under the impression that your performance behind the wheel is not up to par, you should do something. This also applies, of course, if family members bring the issue to your attention or your physician has warned you of side effects of an illness or medications. Ultimately, the important thing is your safety on the road and the safety of the other drivers. We know how multifaceted the reasons can be for a medical appraisal to be required. This is all the more reason to deal with you in a compassionate and individual way, the way that we ourselves would like to be treated.

Back to mobility
Our physicians will take their time with you and they will provide personal support during the examinations and tests. Whether it be to clear away reasons for suspicion or to provide you with individual assistance in overcoming a problem. After all, your mobility is at stake: Perhaps it is even necessary for your profession. In any case, you would like to continue to be "mobile" in order to visit friends or relatives or to pursue your hobbies. In short: It is a question of quality of life.

Put your trust in us!

• Because we are effectively organized, cost-effective and experienced assessors,
• we accept your problems on a one-on-one basis,
• we are close by,
• we promise to protect your personal data,
• our appraisals are accepted by authorities and courts because they are well-founded and professional
• our physicians always have the latest scientific information.

Safe operating service requires first-rate people

Working in the operating service is stressful. It requires both reliability and flawless work because high safety requirements must be met. Good personnel are in demand for this work. When making a selection, the employer and the employee should be certain from the beginning that they are ideally suited for each other. The medical-psychological institute of TÜV NORD Mobilität will help you to make the safe choice.

Physical and psychological fitness
We carry out the corresponding checks for physical fitness. During the hiring or re-hiring, we will determine whether the applicant or veteran driver meets the physical and psychological requirements and contributes to safe operations.

The following guidelines/regulations are the basis for the assessment:

• Appraisal guidelines for driver fitness
• Annexes 4, 5 and 6 of the driver's license ordinance (FeV)
• VDV scripts 714 guidelines for evaluting the operational suitability in driving companies

Example: Railway workers...
... must fulfil important and responsible tasks. It is necessary to make regular checks of their performance in the form of a fitness examination. The goal is to prevent over-burdening and to avoid risks: Risks to the railway workers and his colleagues and to the people who ride on the train. And to protect the goods, vehicles and other valuable items that are being transported.

Thus, it is required for yard duty, for example, that the employees have precise, quick eye-hand coordination, combined with a high degree of constant attentiveness or the ability to make quick decisions.

The medical-psychological institute of TÜV NORD Mobility is an experienced partner for driving companies and training institutes. We are always scientifically up to date and have a inspectgion centre nearly everywhere in Germany. Wherever that is not the case, we have a flexible solution ready. We also enjoy a high level of acceptance rates with courts and authorities.

Shuttle service on railways and roads: A job with a lot of responsibility

Working in the shuttle service is demanding. All employees must give their best around the clock in order to ensure safe operations. But what can you do if employees become ill in a way that affects their driving, their psychological capacity is negatively affected, accidents or driving errors occur or customers and colleagues don't like working with them? Then a decision must be made, quickly and efficiently, for the sake of the affected employees but also for the sake of safety. We will help you to choose the right measures.

The medical-psychological institute of TÜV NORD Mobilität performs the corresponding physical fitness examinations: Our services include:

• Psychological driver fitness diagnostics
• Medical driver fitness diagnostics
• Examinations to determine psychological strain and stress
• Psychological consultation to reduce the stress

We will also be ready with advice and actions during the integration into operations: Our recognized driving psychologists and driving/operational physicians will compassionately provide the following:

• Advice for creating integration plans
• Psychological support during the integration
• Preventive behaviour training to reduce the risk of relapse
• Advice during operations-related implementations

The medical-psychological institute of TÜV NORD Mobility is an experienced partner for driving companies and training institutes. We are always scientifically up to date and have a inspectgion centre nearly everywhere in Germany. Wherever that is not the case, we have a flexible solution ready. We also enjoy a high level of acceptance rates with courts and authorities.

Expert reports for vocational future

Not only drivers in traffic must meet health and mental suitability guidelines. Railway and waterway traffic and machine operation are also governed by legal requirements.
TÜV NORD Mobilität offers suitability testing for each of these areas.

A certificate for the professional future
It is the general responsibility of the entrepreneur to decide, on the basis of a risk assessment, which driving, control, and monitoring activities require a medical examination of employees to determine health suitability.

With its experienced doctors and psychologists, TÜV NORD mobility can especially help employees who have become conspicuous in performing their jobs. In detailed interviews, the problems can be discussed directly with those affected and solutions worked out.

Safe driving for elderly people

Older motorists are demonstrating great responsibility if they actively want to do something to keep their driving abilities at the optimum level. The private check by TÜV NORD Mobilität shows you where you stand. It is made for you alone. Nobody else will receive your information or results. We can vouch for that.

Medical examination
Our experienced doctors will take the time to examine and advise you on an individual basis. You will discuss the findings in your personal consultation. The results will be summarised for you.

Psychological examination
We record your performance capability with objective tests, and discuss the results with you in detail. Together with our experienced driving psychologists, you can clarify what options are open to you for balancing out a potentially reduced performance capability.
It goes without saying that all examination results are treated confidentially.