AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Corporate Mental Health Management and Work Environment
Improvement
Manabu Fujii, Executive Fellow, AIG Institute
NOTICE: This represents an English translation of an original report released in Japanese by the AIG Institute on
October 28, 2019. In the event that there are any inconsistencies between the Japanese version and the English one, theJapanese version shall control and supersede the substance of the English translated version.

Overview
Mental health management of employees is becoming increasingly important for companies.
In particular, in recent years, in the midst of the trend of work style reform, health management,
and measures to deal with lack of human resource, it is essential for not only large companies but
also small and medium-sized enterprises to take mental health measures for the sustainablegrowth of companies.
However, statistics also show that there is a gap between large companies and small andmedium-sized enterprises in mental health management initiatives. There is also administrative
support for small and medium-sized enterprises such as regional occupational health centers andvarious subsidies, but the effect is limited.
Under these circumstances, the approach to reduce mental health risks by improving theworkplace environment, focusing on "psychosocial risks" in the workplace, has been recently
attracting attention. This does not mean that experts deal with mental health disorder employees
develop (after such symptom is detected on individual basis). It is a proactive andwork-environment level approach that prevents mental health problems of employees by
discovering and mitigating risks in the workplace environment before problems become apparent.
This approach to improve the workplace environment is preceded by the EU's PRIMA-EF model,
and has already shown examples of improvements in Italy, for example. In Japan, it isinstitutionalized in the form of group analysis based on stress check, but more recently, a new
initiative called "Creating a Vibrant Workplace (Workplace Dock)" with participation of employees
is attracting attention.
Mental health measures by improving the workplace environment can be implemented flexibly
as it does not much require professional support, and the size of the workplace is small and thereporting line structure is simple, therefore, it is a particularly easy approach for small andmedium-sized enterprises.
Mental health management of companies is required not only to focus on individual employees
after issues occur, but also to focus on the environment (psychosocial risks) and to be expanded toinitiatives to improve the workplace environment to prevent risks from becoming apparent. In
particular, small and medium-sized enterprises will be able to reduce the substantial gap with1

AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

large companies if efforts to improve the working environment are advanced.

The current situation of mental health risk management in companies and legal
systems
The number of claims and certifications for workers' compensation due to mental disorders,
including depression, has increased rapidly in recent years, and the importance of mental healthmanagement for companies is also rapidly increasing. In a survey 1 conducted last year by AIG
Institute, nearly 90 percent of those workers in the companies said they felt stressed at work,
which indicates so many people are working with stress.

Trend of workers compensation for mental illness
1600

1400

1200

The no. of claims forworkers comp.
The no. of recognizedclaims for workers comp.
The no. of claims for
suicide1000
The number of claims
recognized for suicide
800

600

400

200

0

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

(Created by the author based on the document about the status of workmen's compensation
document for mental disorders by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare)

1 "AIG Insights #03 Survey on the mental health of working people and future discussion points"http://www-510.aig.co.jp/about-us/institute/insight/03.html

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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Percentage of people who are stressed or have felt stress
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%Your own work and working environment

17.6%Your own illness, disability, injury, etc.

5.7% 20.8%

Financial issues such as debt and living expenses

11.4%

31.0%

21.4%

Family relationships, illness or nursing care of family
9.3% 22.8%
members, parenting, etc.
Relationships with relatives, acquaintances,
6.0% 19.1%
neighbors, etc.
I feel a strong stress

41.1%

89.6%

34.4%
34.4%
38.6%
42.6%
I feel a stress

I rarely feel a stress(Survey on awareness of employees about mental health by AIG Institute, (2018))

In response to this situation, the government revised the Occupational Safety and Health Act in2015 to establish a basic framework for mental health management for companies centered on
mandatory implementation of stress checks, as well as Guidelines for maintaining and promoting
the mental health of workers ("Guidelines"). In 2019, the Act was revised again as part of the work
style reform, and the strengthening of the authority of industrial physicians was included.
At Guidelines, the mental health management of companies is defined from two perspectives:"four cares" and "three preventions," and comprehensive efforts are requested to maintain andimprove the mental health of employees.
【Four cares】(Classification based on the subject of initiative)(1) Self-care: Care by employees themselves(2) Line-care: Care by supervisors(3) Care by industrial health staff in the workplace: Care by industrial physicians, labor
personnel in the workplace(4) Care with external resources: Care by external doctors and services【Three preventions】(Classification based on the stages to prevent mental health disorders)(1) Primary prevention: Preventing mental health problems(2) Secondary prevention: Detecting mental health problems at earlier stages and taking
appropriate measures(3) Tertiary prevention: Providing support for workers with mental health problems for theirreturn to work

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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Promotion of mental health measures through health management systems
In addition to these initiatives led by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare based on the
Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is promoting"health management" to address future changes in the worker structure (increase in social
insurance costs, decrease in working-age population, aging of workers, etc.).
Health management is "to consider health management from a management perspective and to
implement it strategically, considering that it is an investment that will enhance profitability inthe future, in order to maintain and promote employee’s health". 2 Various award programs havealso been developed to promote health and productivity management, aiming to "visualize"
companies engaged in health and productivity management and lead to social evaluations.
"Health and Productivity Products Brands", "Excellent Health and Productivity Management
Corporations (White 500)" were selected and certified for large enterprises, and "Excellent Healthand Productivity Management Companies" were selected and certified for small and medium-sizedenterprises, and since the selection of the first health and productivity brand in September,recognition has been rapidly increasing. 3
Health andProductivity
BrandsHealth And Management
Awards 2015
Health And Management
Awards 2016
Health And Management
Awards 2017
Health And Management
Awards 2018
Health And Management
Awards 2019
(Announced in Feb. 2019)

Excellent Health and Productivity
Management Corporation
Large Corporate
Small and Medium
SectorEnterprise Division

22 companies
25 companies
24 companies

235 legal entities

318 legal entities

26 companies

541 legal entities

776 legal entities

37 companies

821 legal entities

2,503 legal entities

From the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's "Promotion of Health and Pr

oductivity Management 3.Health and Productivity Management Award"

It is natural that the "health of employees" envisioned by health management includes not only
physical health but also mental health. For example, the certification criteria 4 for The Best
2 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, "Promotion of Health and Productivity Management"

https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/healthcare/downloadfiles/180710kenkoukeiei-gaiyou.pdf (visited on Aug 8, 2019)
3 Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Promotion of Health and Productivity Management 3.Health
And Productivity Management Award"https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/healthcare/kenko_keiei.html (visited on Aug 8, 2019)
4 Excellent Health and Productivity Management Corporation 2020 (Small and Medium Enterprise Division) Certification criteria https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/healthcare/downloadfiles/kenkokei

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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Health Enterprise2020 (Small and Medium Enterprise Sector) includes the following mental
health requirements:
Stress checks conducted at workplaces with less than 50 peopleInitiatives for dealing with those who work for long hours



Initiatives for measures for mental health problems

The present situation of measures for mental health for small and medium
enterprises
The number of companies engaged in mental health measures has increased due to government
efforts such as the revision of the law and the introduction of the new program. In the survey up to2002, the percentage of workplaces that had implemented mental health measures had been lessthan one-fourth of the total, but, in 2009, the survey showed that it rose to about 60 percent.
Percentage of workplaces engaged in mental health measures
70%

60.7% 59.7%

60%

56.6% 58.4%

50%
40%

43.6%

30%
20%

47.2%

33.6%
22.7% 26.5% 23.5%

10%0%

From the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Survey on Worker Health Status (until 2012),
Occupational Safety and Health Survey (for actual status) (since 2013)

However, the implementation rates of these measures largely vary depending on the sizes of theworkplaces. At workplaces with fifty or more workers where mental health measures aremandatory, the implementation rate is nearly 90%, while at workplaces with less than fifty
workers, it is only more than 50%.

eiyuryohojin2020_chushokibo_ninteikijyun.pdf (visited on Aug 8, 2019)5

AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Rate of measure
No. of employees

execution forDistribution ratemental health
1,000 or over

98.9%

0.2%

500 ～ 999

99.8%

0.4%

300 ～ 499

99.5%

0.7%

100 ～ 299

95.5%

4.7%

50 ～

99

83.0%

9.1%

30 ～

49

67.0%

14.3%

10 ～

29

50.2%

70.6%

(50 or over)

88.3%

15.1%

(Less than 50）

53.0%

84.9%

(Total)58.4%

100.0%(Percentage of companies that responded that they were working on mental health.)Created by the author based on the FY2017 Occupational Safety and Health Survey

In addition, at workplaces that answered that they were working on mental health measures,
according to details, stress checks and training were being conducted regardless of their sizes,
while the implementation rates of to improve the working environment and support for returning
to work varied.
Measures for mental health (multiple answers allowed / Excerpt)
Selection ofAn
Utilization of
resources Assessment
established Training and Training andSupport for
Execution ofandregional
responsible
structure for information information
No. of employees
stressfor execution improvement return to occupational
consulting in offered tooffered to
w ork
check
of measures of w orking
healththew orkers
supervisors
for mental environment
centerorganization
health1,000 or over

98%

87%

84%

80%

74%

85%

83%

2.2%

500 ～ 999

99%

78%

70%

69%

67%

73%

63%

3.0%

300 ～ 499

99%

64%

60%

55%

58%

65%

51%

2.4%

100 ～ 299

94%

55%

53%

47%

49%

61%

33%

1.8%

50 ～

99

89%

44%

47%

43%

44%

51%

25%

3.2%

30 ～

49

61%

42%

47%

39%

27%

33%

22%

6.7%

10 ～

29

55%

35%

35%

28%

20%

24%

14%

5.1%

(Total)

64%

39%

41%

34%

28%

33%

19%

4.8%

50 or over

92%

50%

51%

46%

47%

57%

31%

2.7%

Less than 50

56%

36%

38%

30%

22%

26%

15%

5.4%

1.6

1.4

1.3

1.5

2.2

2.2

2.0

0.5

Difference ofexecution rate

(Only companies that responded that they were "engaged" in mental health measures were asked about the details of theirinitiatives.) Created by the author based on the FY2019 Occupational Safety and Health Survey (on the actual conditions)

As this indicates, there is an unignorable gap between large companies and small andmedium-sized enterprises in terms of mental health measures in both the rate of implementationof mental health measures and the content of mental health measures.
The government's initiatives to address mental health measures by small and medium-sized
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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

enterprises include the establishment 5 of a Regional Occupational Health Center, which provides
free occupational health services for small-scale workplaces 6 and various subsidy programs suchas "Stress Check Subsidy", but there are many restrictions on the use of all of them, and there isno sufficient supporting measure yet to correct the disparity. In case of small and medium-sizedenterprises, building a system for engagement of specialists such as industrial physicians isinefficient and expensive compared to large companies, while the above-mentioned support ismainly limited to systems that support the initial investment and does not essentially solve theweight of the burden on small and medium-sized enterprises.

"Psychosocial risk" of mental health and improvement of work environment
In recent years, it has been attracting attention as a clue to solving the structural difficulties ofmental health measures in small and medium-sized enterprises, and reviewed mental healthmeasures from the perspective of "psychosocial risks." It is a movement to solve the problem byimproving the working environment.
Psychosocial risk is one of the risks that lead to mental health problems, and refers to the way ofwork and workplace, that is, what is external to the "working environment" rather than inherent
in individual workers.
In 2008, PRIMA-EF (the European Framework for Psychosocial Risk Management) shows thefollowing factors (psychosocial hazards) that can cause psychosocial risks as ten items 7
Major psychosocial hazards
Works

Lack of diversity or short working cycles , fragmented or meaningless
work, work that requires skill levels than essentially required skills,
high uncertainty, continuous contact with others through works

Workload andWorkload is too large or small, machine-paced work, severe timepace of work

constraints, constantly pressured to meet delivery dates

Work schedule

Shift, night shift, inflexible work schedule, unpredictable working
hours, long hours or special working hours

Control

Small involvement in decision-making, lack of control over volume ofwork, pace of operations, and shift

5

Japan Organization of Occupational Health and Safety, Tokyo Occupational Health Support Center, Japan
Workers' Health and Safety Organizationhttp://www.tokyos.johas.go.jp/region.html The same, Osaka
Occupational Health Support Center, Regional Occupational Health Center
http://osakas.johas.go.jp/sanpo-center/ (visited on Aug 5, 2019)
6 Reiwa's First Year Occupational Health Subsidy
https://www.johas.go.jp/sangyouhoken/tabid/1389/Default.aspx (visited on Aug 6, 2019)
7 Leka, S. et al., “The European Framework for Psychosocial Risk Management (PRIMA-EF)”, I-WHO
Publications, 20087

AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Environment andEquipment is not properly available, equipment is not adequate nor

Facilities

maintained, poor working environment such as insufficient space andlighting, excessive noise

Organizational culture

Lack of communication, lack of support for problem solving andand features

human resource development, undefined or unagreed organizationalgoals

Human relationship at

Social or physical isolation, weakness of relationships with superiors

work

or colleagues, conflicting relationships, lack of social supportrole in the organization

Unclear role, undesired role, responsibility to people

Career Development

Slow career development, uncertainty, inadequate promotion orexcessive promotion, low salary, employment instability, low social
valueWork life balance

Conflict between work and home requirements , lack of housework
support, problems about two-income family

Created on Leka, S. et al., “The European Framework for Psychosocial Risk Management (PRIMA-EF)”,
I-WHO Publications, 2008, Table 1.1.

As this shows, when mental health issues are viewed from the perspective of psychosocial risks,
the means of solving them are not responses to individual employees, but rather an approach of"improving the working environment."
As a specific example, in Italy, efforts to improve the workplace environment have beenpromoted in a manner that has been encouraged by the government since 2008 as an initiative
based on PRIMA-EF. In companies that have implemented PRIMA-EF, workers' work satisfaction
was below the EU average before implementation, while a survey five years later showed theirsatisfaction level exceeded the average, and sixty percent of workers said they were satisfied with
their current workplace 8.
In Japan, effectiveness of the initiatives to improve the workplace environment has beenverified, and it has been shown that they are effective mental health measures that are expected tobe more cost-effective than employee and their supervisor training programs. 98 Norito Kawakami, Chiyo Igarashi, Yuko Odagiri "Research on Risk Assessment Methods to Promote Mental

Health Measures in Workplaces", 2013-27 Comprehensive Research Report/International Trends (2) Trends
in Italy
9 "Expense per person" is the total amount of expenses required for intervention (salary of employees, etc. andfee for lecturer) divided by employees of the intervention group, and "benefit per person" is calculated basedon the difference before and after the intervention of HPQ (indicator of labor productivity) x the number ofpeople who intervened x annual bonus amount.

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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Cost-effectiveness comparison of mental health measures

Work environment
improvement
Study for employee
Study for supervisors (A)(a local government)
Study for supervisors (A)(a Japanese sake maker)

Cost peremployee

Benefit per
employee

ROI

Evalation¥7,660 \15,200-22,800 1.98 - 2.98○

¥9,708 \15,200-22,920 1.57 - 2.36○

¥5,290\4,400－6,600 0.83 - 1.24△

¥2,948¥0×0Created based on Kenyu Yoshimura, Kento Kawakami, Akizumi Tsutsumi et al., Cost-benefit analysis on
primary preventive measures for mental health in the workplace in Japan, created from Sangyo Eiseigaku
Zasshi, 55(1), 11-24(2013)

Efforts to improve the working environment as a mental health measure also leads to redefining
the position of "care by the line (supervisor)" for a better direction.
Supervisors not only have their authorities necessary to intervene and improve the work
environment and the way their subordinates work, but they are also "experts" in the workplace
and work style. By extending the role of the supervisor in mental health measures to recognize theproblems of the work environment and to make improvement rather than simply giving advice tohis or her subordinates, and by positioning it as their main role, the significance and effectivenessof care by the line will increase greatly.

Approach suitable for improvement of the workplace environment in SMEs
What measures are available when small and medium-sized enterprises try to take mental
health measures based on an approach to improve their workplace environments?
Difficulty of implementing group analysis
In general, a method called "group analysis" of stress check is well known as an effort to improve
the work environment, and it is has been introduced by large companies.
In group analysis, the results of stress checks (separately from the individual aggregation) for
each workplace are aggregated and analyzed to discover the risk factors for mental healthproblems that each workplace has and to make improvement. It is also specified in the flow ofstress check implementation stipulated in the Guidelines.

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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Flow of stress check based on "guideline" and "group analysis"
Execution of stress check（Obligation to make effort）
Result totaled and analyzed per workplace（In case of high risk score)

Recommendation to worker for interview

Utilization of analysis result for improvement

for guidanceof working environment（Only those who wish)

Interview for guidance by doctor

Flow of group analysis

Flow of individual interviews

Notification result to worker

Execution of actions for work wheneverneeded* Created by the author based on "Guidelines for the Maintenance and Promotion of Workers' Mental
Health" of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Stress checks can be used not only for the analysis of the mental health of individual
respondents, but also for the analysis of problems (psychosocial risks) in their workplaces because
it is considered that stress checks are originally used for such purposes, and the questions containitems related to psychosocial risks.
However, in order to carry out a group analysis, a stress check must be carried out in advance asa prerequisite. Since stress checks are not mandatory for small and medium-sized enterprises, forsuch enterprises that have not conducted stress checks, it is not possible to improve the working
environment through group analysis.
Approach to “create a vibrant workplace (Workplace Dock)”On the other hand, an employee-participation type initiative called "Creating 10 a Vibrant
Workplace (Workplace Dock)" is attracting attention as a new initiative to improve a work
environment, while stress check is not regarded as a prerequisite.
"Creating a Vibrant Workplace" is a workplace environment improvement program that is
conducted by employees in their workplaces as the primary prevention of mental health problems
and is led by themselves. The latest psychosocial risk management knowledge including the
PRIMA-EF model is reflected, and its framework makes it possible to comprehensively respond toa wide range of psychosocial risks more than group analysis. In 2011, 11 initiatives implemented
10 * For such initiatives, the term "workplace dock" may be used, but on the "listen to your mind" portalsite managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the initiative to improve work
environment with participation of the employees, which is similar to “workplace dock”, is called “creation ofvibrant workplace”*, therefore, in this document, that name is to be used. *http://kokoro.mhlw.go.jp/manual/
11 Manual for Implementation of Stress Check System Based on the Occupational Safety and Health Act(Revised in July 2019) 95 pages https://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/roudoukijun/anzeneisei12/index.html (visi10AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

for employees in Kochi Prefecture were organized as "workplace docks," and since then they havebeen introduced to other local governments and companies.
Specific ways to conduct "Creating a Vibrant Workplace" are summarized 12 in “Listen to yourmind”, a mental health portal site managed by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (seethe Appendix for its overview).
As an effort to improve the working environment for small and medium-sized enterprises,"Creating a Vibrant Workplace" is excellent in the following ways:

Employees can work on their own initiatives.
Although the engagement of industrial physicians, etc. as an advisor is also proposed at thestage of preparation and planning, it is not mandatory, and it is possible for experts withcertain knowledge and experience in occupational health and safety and managers to takeleadership and implement it. Small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have currently
effective contracts with industrial physicians can "start first".



The target of the approach is not individual employees who have suffered from mental
health problems, but the work environment itself is there.
In small and medium-sized enterprises, requests for care for individual employees are
irregular and unstable, and it is difficult to establish a support system and cost-effectivenessdeteriorates. On the other hand, in the case of improvement of the work environment, it ispossible to work at any time, regardless whether there are employees with mental healthproblems or not, and the effect will spread to all employees in the workplace as a whole.

 Small scale of organization and workplace is rather beneficial for initiatives.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, group discussions in the process of "creating avibrant workplace" can be completed once for the entire company, and it is possible to change
the work environment of the company at once through the strong leadership of management.
This is difficult for large companies with many subdivisions to take and can bring a uniquestrength to small and medium-sized enterprises.

ted on Sep 18,2019)12 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare "Listen to your mind", work environment improvement tool

http://kokoro.mhlw.go.jp/manual/ (visited on Aug 16, 2019)11

AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Summary: Small and medium enterprises and the workplace environment
improvement program
Mental health management initiatives have been progressing mainly in large companies, andsmall and medium-sized enterprises have not implemented sufficient initiatives, compared tothem. Although the government has provided a variety of assistance, its effectiveness is limited.
However, the majority of companies in Japan are small and medium-sized enterprises, and labor
shortages and recruitment difficulties due to the declining birthrate and aging population, an
increase in mental and physical health risks due to the aging of employees, and a growing interestin health and productivity management are getting more attentions. Enhancement of mental
health measures is an urgent issue even for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In such a situation, compared to the conventional individual-centered and reactive approachthat is only effective in large-scaled companies, "improvement of the workplace environment"
focusingon

psychosocialriskssurrounding

employees,

and,

in

particular,theemployee-participating initiatives to improve work environment, called the creation of a vibrantworkplace (workplace dock), have a low hurdle for small and medium-sized enterprises tointroduce, and are worth considering as a priority.
In the future, the area to pay particular attention to in the mental health management
initiatives of companies is the improvement of the workplace environment in small andmedium-sized enterprises, and the employee-participation-type of the workplace environment
improvement approach that people in charge and employees in the company take the initiative.
Currently, there are few reports on efforts to improve the workplace environment in small andmedium-sized enterprises, and the management of small and medium-sized enterprises are notfully aware of this approach, therefore, it is required to strongly promote the practice of improving
the workplace environment in small and medium-sized enterprises as an initiative of government
and academia. As a result, it will be necessary to share a wide range of knowledge such as successstories and challenges unique to small and medium-sized enterprises and how to deal with them,and to aim to realize a society in which workplace environment improvement is being taken for
granted as a mental health measure for SMEs.
* This document is not intended to sell or recommend any insurance or other financial products. Also, it does not propose any
specific and concreate transactions nor guarantee their feasibility.
* AIG Institute (hereinafter referred to as AIG) shall not represent nor guarantee the accuracy, granularity, or reliability as touse or the result of use of this document nor being responsible for the use of the document. AIG shall not represent that thisdocument is always appropriate and being able to be used in any locations. AIG has made practical efforts to provide accurate
and latest information through this document, but, errors or omissions may not be avoided.
* AIG or any parties engaged in panning, developing, or providing this document shall not be held responsibility for direct,
coincidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages attributable to use or non-use of this document by our customers.
* The copyright of the contents included this document shall belong to AIG or the copyright holder AIG acquired a license for.
Unauthorized copy, reproduction, or change is prohibited.

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AIG Institute Insight #04

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Appendix: Overview of "creating a vibrant workplace"
Implementation process for creating a vibrant workplace
The workplace environment is to be improved by creating a vibrant workplace, which is
employee-led on a workplace basis (the entire company if it is a small company).
The implementation process consists of four steps below. This process is driven by corporate
health and safety personnel, operators, and administrative supervisors, and the involvement of
external experts is not always expected. (However, it is also proposed to obtain the cooperation ofthese experts during the preparation and planning phase.)"Creating a vibrant workplace" process for improving the workplace environment
Preparation/Plan• Assignment of
owner• Communication toemployees

Iki-Iki work

• Entry to checklist• Group discussion

Development andexecution of
improvement plan
• Execution based on
plan• Creation of
improvement report
sheet

Report andrecord of result• Presentation of
improvement case
• Creation of
improvement report
sheet

Created by the author based on "Guide to improvement of work environment with participation of workers forthe creation of a vibrant workplace" of Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2018 revised edition

Among these processes, the second process, “Iki-Iki work” requires participation of
employees.”Iki-Iki work” is an around sixty-minute study meeting in which all employees in theworkplace participate to openly discuss the good points of and improvement areas in theirworkplace and to make and present a plan for improvement of the workplace.
In “Iki-Iki work”, the work environment is reviewed from four perspectives such as "how to
execute work," "workplace and office work environment," "mutual support in human relations,"
and "mechanism of a safe workplace” to identify psychosocial risks.

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AIG Institute Insight #04

October 2019

Four elements of working environment reviewed in "Iki-Iki work" (In Japanese)* From the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Guide to the improvement of participatory work
environment for the creation of a vibrant workplace", 2018 revised version

Tools for "Iki-Iki work"

Collection of successful cases

Group worksheet

Improvement plan report

Action check list
* From the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's “Guide to improvement of work environment with participationof workers for the creation of a vibrant workplace" " 2018 Revised Edition14