Strategies for psychosocial risk management in manufacturing ☆ José Guadix ⁎, Jesús Carrillo-Castrillo 1 , Luis Onieva 1 , David Lucena 1 University of Seville, Camino Descubrimientos s/n, Isla Cartuja, 41092 Seville, Spain abstract article info Article history: Received 26 January 2015 Received in revised form 30 January 2015 Accepted 5 February 2015 Available online xxxx Keywords: Strategy Manufacturing Business performance Psychosocial risks Health and safety management Structural equation modeling Psychosocial risk is a concern for employers across Europe. Psychosocial risk management, however, is younger than other risk management fields such as safety, hygiene, and ergonomics. Psychosocial risk control prevents accidents and absenteeism. This study examines strategies for psychosocial risk management in manufacturing organizations. The study employs structural equation modeling to analyze results of the European Survey of En- terprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER), a survey that fills an information gap concerning health and safe- ty at work. The analysis yields three latent variables: psychosocial safety management, health and safety activities, and psychosocial performance. The study shows the benefits of adopting psychosocial safety manage- ment systems to improve psychosocial risk performance. Psychosocial preventive activities mediate the relation- ship between psychosocial safety management and psychosocial performance. Effective psychosocial risk management's benefits are so great that policymakers should specifically promote psychosocial risk manage- ment. Promoting psychosocial management systems and psychosocial preventive activities is likely to effectively improve overall psychosocial performance in European countries. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Psychosocial risk is a concern for employers across Europe. The European Risk Observatory (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2007) cites psychosocial risk as an emerging risk form. According to the European Risk Observatory's forecasts, five factors cause psycho- social risk: (i) employment contract forms and job insecurity, (ii) the aging workforce, (iii) work intensification, (iv) high emotional demands at work, and (v) poor work–life balance. The decision to dedicate the 2014 and 2015 Healthy Work Campaign to managing stress illustrates this issue's importance in Europe. Stress is the second most reported work-related health problem in Europe, and causes more than half of all lost working days in Europe. A campaign leaflet indicates that “managing stress and psychosocial risks can con- tribute to the delivery and improvement of key business performance indicators, such as meeting quality and delivery goals, becoming a more reliable supplier, lowering operating costs and reducing staff turn- over” (Eurofound and EU-OSHA, 2014). As campaign supporting litera- ture asserts, “Psychosocial factors are linked not only to health outcomes but also to performance-related outcomes such as absentee- ism, work ability and especially job satisfaction” (Publications Office of the European Union, 2014). As part of human resource management, an innovative strategy in psychosocial risk management may increase organizational social capital by encouraging relationships among employees. Social capital denotes aggregate resources embedded in, available through, and ob- tained from an individual's or organization's relationships (Chuang, Chen, & Chuang, 2013). Furthermore, improving social relationships be- tween an organization's members enhances innovation (Maurer, Bartsch, & Ebers, 2011). Council Directive 89/391/EEC for the assessment and management of psychosocial risks and work-related stress establishes mandatory health and safety management guidelines within the European Union. Employers must evaluate all risks. Council Directive 89/391/EEC aims to improve occupational health and safety. The directive covers all sec- tors, both public and private, and all types of risk. The directive states that the employer has a duty to address all types of risk to ensure workers' health and safety in every work-related aspect. Psychosocial risk management, however, is younger than other risk management fields such as safety, hygiene, and ergonomics. Managers should consider motivation, strategy, and perceived risks when deciding which health and safety management model to adopt (Carrillo, Guadix, & Onieva, 2014). Although psychosocial risks can cause injury and other health prob- lems, very few reports cite psychosocial risks as causing such injury or illness. Therefore, to analyze psychosocial risk management perfor- mance, intermediate outcomes such as job satisfaction are useful. In addition, safety management is easier to evaluate by analyzing activities that control and prevent risks. Most research on psychosocial risk focuses on how psychosocial risks affect health. In business strategy, psychosocial risks deeply Journal of Business Research xxx (2015) xxx–xxx ☆ The authors are grateful for the contributions from Adolfo López, University of Valladolid, and Juan Carlos Rubio, University of Málaga, and for their careful reading and suggestions on revising this essay. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 954486042. E-mail addresses: guadix@us.es (J. Guadix), jesus.carrillo.castrillo@juntadeandalucia.es (J. Carrillo-Castrillo), onieva@us.es (L. Onieva), davidjlucena@gmail.com (D. Lucena). 1 Tel.: +34 954486042. JBR-08294; No of Pages 6 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.01.037 0148-2963/© 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research Please cite this article as: Guadix, J., et al., Strategies for psychosocial risk management in manufacturing, Journal of Business Research (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.01.037