Ahead of the European Week for Safety and Health at Work (19-24 October 2026), the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) has set out three common misunderstandings about the psychosocial work environment. Since 1 January 2026, Norway’s rules in this area have become more explicit: the psychosocial work environment must now be an explicit part of companies’ regular health and safety work in Norway. According to Arbeidstilsynet, many workplaces handle this well, but others go wrong on what exactly needs to be investigated, which measures are needed, and who should be involved.
Myth 1: it’s all in the employee’s head
A common assumption is that problems with the psychosocial work environment are mainly personal in nature. Arbeidstilsynet, through its director Ingvill Kvernmo, rejects this: employees’ experiences are real, but they usually stem from how the work itself is organised, planned and carried out. “If we want to succeed with the psychosocial work environment, we need to understand what in the work itself creates strain,” she says. If an employee reports that tasks cannot be completed within working hours, immediate relief may be needed, but the employer must also look at underlying causes such as workload, staffing levels and unclear priorities. According to Kvernmo, an individual report can point to a wider problem: “Whoever speaks up may be the first to alert the employer to a problem that applies to several people.”
Myth 2: employees need to become more resilient
A second misunderstanding is that a good psychosocial work environment is mainly about training employees’ resilience. Coping courses and stress management can be useful, but when the strain stems from the work itself, Arbeidstilsynet says the employer must adapt the working conditions. One example is a nursing home: staff who deal with aggressive or vulnerable residents need support, enough colleagues and time to recover. The employer must ensure that the work itself is sound, not make employees resilient enough to withstand any strain.
Myth 3: only the manager can fix it
The third misunderstanding is that responsibility for the psychosocial work environment lies solely with the manager. The employer does bear the main responsibility, but according to Arbeidstilsynet, preventive work must be taken up together with employees, safety representatives (verneombud) and union representatives. Employees also have a duty to cooperate. “Good participation does not mean the manager hands off responsibility,” says Kvernmo. The point is to use employees’ knowledge to arrive at better decisions.
Context
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) launched its Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026-2028, “Together for mental health at work”, in 2026. According to EU-OSHA, 45 percent of workers in the EU report risks to their mental wellbeing at work, and 29 percent experience stress, anxiety or depression caused or worsened by work. The campaign notes that employers often hesitate to address psychosocial risks, partly due to a lack of knowledge or resources.
Norway’s example shows how national regulation translates the broader European focus on psychosocial risks into concrete oversight on the shop floor. For EHS professionals worldwide, Arbeidstilsynet’s three-part framing – organisation rather than the individual, adapting the work rather than resilience training alone, and shared responsibility rather than management alone – offers a practical test that is useful beyond Norway and the EU as well.
Source: Er det de ansatte som må tåle mer eller jobben som må endres? Tre misforståelser om psykososialt arbeidsmiljø, 19 October 2026
Additional research: EU-OSHA, Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026-2028 (“Together for mental health at work”), press release.
