[A Study on the Implementation of Stress Checks to Small-scale Workplaces and the Taking is Effective to Promote the Implementation].

OBJECTIVES: The Industrial Safety and Health Law implemented in December 2015 mandates that workplaces with more than 50 employees should perform annual stress checks on their employees; workplace with fewer than 50 employees are required only to make an effort to perform such checks. Notably, more than half of all workers in Japan work for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees. Therefore, the effectiveness of this legislation is compromised by its limited applicability to small- scale workplace. This research examined the extent to which workplaces with 30-49 employees provide mental health measures and stress checks, and considered the effective types of taking to promote the implementation of stress checks in a small-scale workplaces.

METHODS: Questionnaires were mailed to workplaces in Aichi Prefecture with 30-49 employees. Data from independent companies were compared with those from branch offices of larger businesses, whereas data from workplaces with and without an individual charged with promoting mental health were also compared.

RESULTS: The number of workplaces in the independent group was 290, whereas that in the branch group was 331. In the independent group, 55 workplaces appointed an individual to promote mental health, whereas 235 did not; in the branch group, 102 offices appointed an individual to promote mental health, whereas 229 did not. Compared with independent workplaces, a greater proportion of branch offices not only appointed individuals to promote mental health but also actively engaged in efforts to promote mental health. Indeed, stress checks had been performed in almost half of the branch offices surveyed. The workplaces in both groups that appointed an individual to promote mental health reported more positive efforts in this regard and were more likely to implement stress checks. Our data also suggest that the success of extending mandatory stress checks to workplaces with fewer than 50 employees would be facilitated by appointing skilled individuals to promote the mental health of employees in both groups. Such efforts by independent workplaces could be facilitated by an adequate budget, whereas the availability of experts would be of assistance to branch offices. However, public support for use of such services was low in both groups, and this was especially pronounced in independent workplaces.

CONCLUSIONS: A smaller proportion of independent workplaces, compared with branch offices, engaged in not only efforts to promote mental health but also the implementation of stress checks. However, groups with an individual promoting the mental health of employees reported more positive efforts. Encouraging the appointment of individuals charged with promoting employee mental health is expected to lead to a positive approach to stress checking.