It is certainly nothing new that some characteristics of the restaurant world can be stressful for their operators, and that some of the recurring phenomena in certain professional fields have not benefited from the upheavals that the last year has brought about.
To better give a name to things, in the last 20 years the concept of work-related stress has been defined and spread , different from the already known one of burnout , which, although particularly affecting professionals who have strong relationships with the public, is a real own pathology caused by excessive empathy.
Work-related stress, on the other hand, is a perception of imbalance caused by the working context (communication, roles, relationships) and by the content of the work (hours, infrastructural deficiencies, etc.) which, depending on the extent, can lead to a series of ailments.
A situation so widespread that since January 2011 it has been mandatory for Italian companies to carry out an assessment of work-related stress.
Does work-related stress also affect the Horeca sector? The answer is yes.
In an interview with Fine Dining Lovers , Doctor of Psychological Techniques David Pelusi explains:
"The risk for those who work in the restaurant and hospitality sector is given by a number of factors, which we could almost say are textbook. First of all, working hours: those who work in the restaurant and hospitality sector work more than 10 hours per day. And the more responsibility increases, the more worries grow. But that's not all: to this is added the need to relate and coordinate more people. Those who work in the kitchen must also stay in confined spaces and often bear high temperatures, which we consider factors "objectives" of stress".
Other research also highlights problems related to the presence of peak work periods with unpredictable hours, and the management of customer feedback, which today also takes place outside the shift through social media reviews.
Added to this scenario are the heavy restrictions of the last year, which have led to personnel cuts and sometimes even closure of the business.
Having made these dutiful and delicate premises, let us not lose heart: luckily there is a way to intervene in this situation!
Expert advice
We telephoned Mattia Parizzi, safety manager for OM.EN , an organization that deals with training, occupational safety, food safety and much more. Do you remember? We had already talked to him about the horeca sector scenario during the pandemic .
Here is his commentary and directions:
“Being a worker in the catering sector at the time of a global pandemic, which implies heavily restrictive measures in a precise manner regarding commercial activities in the HO.RE.CA. it can lead to an accumulation of objective and subjective stress factors, which can lead to serious pathologies from a psychological point of view, accidents both at work and in one's private life.
The Consolidated Safety Act (Legislative Decree 81/2008) recognizes the dangers of work-related stress and includes it among the risks to be assessed and eliminated to protect the psychophysical health of workers. Among the good practices that can be introduced into our business, thanks to figures who work for prevention purposes, Inail has also developed a methodological proposal for the management and assessment of work-related stress risk.
"THE METHODOLOGY FOR THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF WORK-RELATED STRESS RISK" elaborated by Inail, updated to 2017, is a systematic path, the result of research experiences, which allows the employer, through the active involvement of all the figures of prevention, to manage the risk of work-related stress like all the other risks envisaged by current legislation, in an integrated manner, with a view to simplicity but, at the same time, methodological rigor also through the use of validated tools . Ultimately, it can be seen that the trend of indicators responding to an aggravation of the condition from work-related stress is increasing in the restaurant sector, and it is therefore necessary to adopt the adequate prevention, protection and monitoring plans necessary for the management and optimization of the problem in the perspective of continuous improvement and of course to preserve worker health and productivity.”
In our work we are used to challenges, and we love it for this very reason.
And even if there are many worries now, let's take the time to evaluate, communicate with collaborators, monitor the situation and ask for professional help, if necessary.
For our part, we make ourselves available to show you our solutions: do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation .
To better give a name to things, in the last 20 years the concept of work-related stress has been defined and spread , different from the already known one of burnout , which, although particularly affecting professionals who have strong relationships with the public, is a real own pathology caused by excessive empathy.
Work-related stress, on the other hand, is a perception of imbalance caused by the working context (communication, roles, relationships) and by the content of the work (hours, infrastructural deficiencies, etc.) which, depending on the extent, can lead to a series of ailments.
A situation so widespread that since January 2011 it has been mandatory for Italian companies to carry out an assessment of work-related stress.
The Horeca sector
Does work-related stress also affect the Horeca sector? The answer is yes.
In an interview with Fine Dining Lovers , Doctor of Psychological Techniques David Pelusi explains:
"The risk for those who work in the restaurant and hospitality sector is given by a number of factors, which we could almost say are textbook. First of all, working hours: those who work in the restaurant and hospitality sector work more than 10 hours per day. And the more responsibility increases, the more worries grow. But that's not all: to this is added the need to relate and coordinate more people. Those who work in the kitchen must also stay in confined spaces and often bear high temperatures, which we consider factors "objectives" of stress".
Other research also highlights problems related to the presence of peak work periods with unpredictable hours, and the management of customer feedback, which today also takes place outside the shift through social media reviews.
Added to this scenario are the heavy restrictions of the last year, which have led to personnel cuts and sometimes even closure of the business.
Having made these dutiful and delicate premises, let us not lose heart: luckily there is a way to intervene in this situation!
Expert advice
We telephoned Mattia Parizzi, safety manager for OM.EN , an organization that deals with training, occupational safety, food safety and much more. Do you remember? We had already talked to him about the horeca sector scenario during the pandemic .
Here is his commentary and directions:
“Being a worker in the catering sector at the time of a global pandemic, which implies heavily restrictive measures in a precise manner regarding commercial activities in the HO.RE.CA. it can lead to an accumulation of objective and subjective stress factors, which can lead to serious pathologies from a psychological point of view, accidents both at work and in one's private life.
The Consolidated Safety Act (Legislative Decree 81/2008) recognizes the dangers of work-related stress and includes it among the risks to be assessed and eliminated to protect the psychophysical health of workers. Among the good practices that can be introduced into our business, thanks to figures who work for prevention purposes, Inail has also developed a methodological proposal for the management and assessment of work-related stress risk.
"THE METHODOLOGY FOR THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF WORK-RELATED STRESS RISK" elaborated by Inail, updated to 2017, is a systematic path, the result of research experiences, which allows the employer, through the active involvement of all the figures of prevention, to manage the risk of work-related stress like all the other risks envisaged by current legislation, in an integrated manner, with a view to simplicity but, at the same time, methodological rigor also through the use of validated tools . Ultimately, it can be seen that the trend of indicators responding to an aggravation of the condition from work-related stress is increasing in the restaurant sector, and it is therefore necessary to adopt the adequate prevention, protection and monitoring plans necessary for the management and optimization of the problem in the perspective of continuous improvement and of course to preserve worker health and productivity.”
In our work we are used to challenges, and we love it for this very reason.
And even if there are many worries now, let's take the time to evaluate, communicate with collaborators, monitor the situation and ask for professional help, if necessary.
For our part, we make ourselves available to show you our solutions: do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation .