Sri Shamicsha M (Research Scholar), & Dr. Dhamodharan M (Assistant Professor) Department of Psychology, Easwari School of Liberal Arts, SRM University AP
Celebrating Worker’s Day-2026 on May 1 and theme of this year, “Good psychosocial working environments: A pathway to thriving workers and strong organisations”
International Labour Day is observed worldwide to honour the dedication and hard work that all workers put forth throughout their lives, as much time as each of us spends working to meet our basic needs. Therefore, this day serves as a constant reminder of how we can improve the working society in which we live to promote healthier lifestyles. This day serves as a reminder to reevaluate pay, suitable work hours, and a safer, exploitation-free environment.
The first International Labour Day was observed on May 1st, 1889. The movement began in the late 19th century when more than 3 lakh workers staged a protest in Chicago on May 1st, 1886. The protest focused on the demand for eight hours of work per day. However, it proved to be a dark day when several workers were allegedly killed by the military. International Labour Day, also known as International Workers Day, was a historic day for the fight for workers’ rights and turned out to be a Haymarket affair. Later, in 1892, they succeeded in obtaining an eight-hour workday, which was a huge win for the labour movement.
The theme for this year is “good psychosocial working environments: a pathway to thriving workers and strong organisations,” which emphasises improving mental health by concentrating on psychosocial aspects of the workplace, strengthening the organisation’s foundation.
Do coworkers, the manager of our workspace, or the CEO ask us how our work is going? Does my newly acquired skill fit into my role? The fact that nearly 8,40,000 people die from cardiovascular disease and stroke is not well understood by many organisations. This affects not just physical health issues but also mental health, which deteriorates due to workplace culture and structure. One of the most crucial things we should consider is that our output is inversely proportional to the amount of effort we put in.
According to the ILO, an unhealthy workplace culture costs almost 45 million years of healthy life worldwide on average. Long workdays can have detrimental effects on one’s health and significantly increase workload, which can result in an imbalance between work and life.
This is because the workplace demands that we meet deadlines, which is associated with higher levels of stress. Stress causes sedentary lifestyles, which ultimately result in death from cardiovascular disease (CVD). This happens when there should be more competition in the labour market. and ultimately puts pressure on the need to complete tasks in a shorter amount of time. which results in a rise in illness, absenteeism, musculoskeletal disorders, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, immune system deficiencies, reproductive health issues, and cancer.
Therefore, the only question that comes up when we examine the issue is why it is occurring. To do that, we must understand the nature of the work and what it entails. This includes the degree of responsibility one should have the use of skills in their line of work,emotionaldemands,repetitivetasks, cognitive demands, and physical demands.
The second crucial step is to determine whether we have control over the tasks and role clarity. which covers autonomy, workspace, control, workload, support, supervision, and expectations.
Thirdly, do workplaces have procedures and policies that benefit their employees? For instance, the policies regarding protection against instances of harassment and discrimination that we may encounter at work pose a significant obstacle to working in harmony. Therefore, it’s not just about how we work; it’s also about how our workspace is set up and how safe we are.
In honour of World Safety Day in 2026, the International Labour Organisation released a global report outlining how an organisation should prioritise a psychosocial approach in the workplace. The report expands on three levels regarding how we manage our work, organisation, practice, and procedure that governs the work on long working hours, workplace bullying, and job insecurity.
What is the psychosocial approach?
Individuals have an impact on social interactions and vice versa due to a combination of psychological and social factors, as is common knowledge. According to Manal Azzi, the ILO’s Team Lead for Occupational Safety and Health Policy and Systems, it has less to do with mental health and more to do with how jobs are designed and how employees are managed. People who are employed are impacted by psychosocial factors. The ILO has broken it down into three primary components.
- Emotional intelligence:The issues are related to whether the skills are appropriate for the position and whether the work is repetitive or meaningful for each employee individually falls under the first category level.
- Job’s funding, schedule, and workspace: The second level includes our actual job management and control.
- Structural difficulties at work: There are structural difficulties such as ignorance and aggressive behaviour, and the workplace is resilient to some of these problems. Therefore, having a flexible work schedule policy helps people feel less anxious and frustrated. We should also ask ourselves if our current jobs have helped us advance our careers. In some work environments, other factors like age and gender discrimination become less advantageous. We should have a stricter policy regarding workplace harassment that makes the workplace safer.
The employment crisis is significantly influenced by artificial intelligence as well. It has a significant impact on how we work, where we conduct our personal lives, and increases the intensity of our work once more. Additionally, micromanagement at work raises stress levels, which reduces autonomy. Worker unions and sectoral unions will be able to enact laws and regulations pertaining to communication in 2026to create a healthier workplace society.
