OQM Health · Stress risk assessment
A stress risk assessment that shows where to start.
Employers have to assess the risk of work-related stress and act on it. OQM Health does this with an anonymous survey in five areas, compared with other organizations. You see what keeps your people healthy and which area needs attention first.
- From $490 per team, no annual package needed
- Anonymous, no questions about name, age or gender
- Compared with a norm updated every year
50Average
The duty
A legal duty. And the biggest cause of work-related ill health.
In Great Britain, employers must assess the risks of their work, and the HSE is clear that this includes work-related stress. The assessment has to lead to action. With five or more workers, it must be written down.
Elsewhere, ISO 45003 describes how to manage psychosocial risks as part of occupational health and safety. The steps are the same: identify the risks, act on them and check that the measures work.
- 964,000
- workers in Great Britain suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25. That is 52% of all work-related ill health. HSE, Work-related stress statistics 2025
- 22.1 m
- working days were lost to work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2024/25, on average 22.9 days per case. HSE, Work-related stress statistics 2025
Why OQM Health is different
A plant grows only as well as its scarcest factor allows.
Many tools give you a traffic light for every question and a long list of red fields. OQM Health measures five conditions under which people work in good health and shows the scarcest one: the minimum factor. That is where every measure has the biggest effect.
Choose a condition in the picture.
RootsMaximum factor
Social relationships (colleagues)
57Value in the sample profile
Many fine roots hold a plant even in a storm. At work, that is a team where people can rely on each other and support each other.
“Even in critical situations I can turn to my colleagues in confidence.”55
Care
Social relationships (leadership)
55Value in the sample profile
Watering helps when it happens regularly and in the right measure. Leadership works the same way: with feedback, with support when it is needed and with a say in important decisions.
“My leader talks to me in a constructive way about my strengths and weaknesses.”49
Pot
Work organization
49Value in the sample profile
The pot gives support and shape. Once it is too small, more watering will not help. At work, that means structures, clear responsibilities and processes that make the work easier.
“I find the structures in our company useful.”41
Climate
Working environment
46Value in the sample profile
Whether a plant thrives also depends on air and climate. In a company, it is the working climate: fair and respectful behavior, open words and conflicts that get resolved.
“In this company, conflicts are resolved constructively.”47
LightMinimum factor
Work tasks
45Value in the sample profile
Light is the energy a plant lives on. At work, tasks give energy when they are challenging, suit people’s abilities and come with the resources, information and training they need.
“I am given optimal training for my tasks.”40
“If the minimum factor is the pot that has become too small, it will do the plant little good to keep watering it, even if that worked very well in the past.”
Translated from: Stephan Wesely, Dialogisch orientiertes Organisches Qualitätsmanagement (OQM). Doctoral thesis, University of Koblenz-Landau, 2011, p. 40.
What this means in the sample profile
The roots hold: the team is the greatest strength (57). The minimum factor is light, the work tasks (45). More watering, such as another leadership training, would change little here. What helps most is what brings light, for example better training for the tasks (40).
The first studies with the OQM questionnaire already showed: the higher the quality of a company, the less often and the less severely physical and psychological complaints occur.Doctoral thesis of Stephan Wesely, p. 45, study by Christoph Schalk with the 2008 OQM questionnaire (summary, translated)
What you get
Right after the survey you see where to start.
The profile sorts your employees’ answers by the areas of a stress risk assessment. You get it for each team, and on request as an overall profile of several teams.
OQM Health profile
Where does stress come from, and where do you start?
- Five areas compared with a norm, with minimum and maximum factor
- The ten questions with the lowest and the highest scores, word for word
- For each area, an explanation of what strengthens it and what strains it
- Per team, as an overall profile of several teams and as a comparison
Every team has its own minimum factor
In the sample comparison profile, each of the three teams needs something different. One measure for everyone would miss two of the three teams.
| Team | Minimum factor | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Team A | Social relationships (colleagues) | 59 |
| Team B | Work tasks | 49 |
| Team C | Working environment | 63 |
How it works
How the survey becomes a complete risk assessment.
A survey alone is not yet a risk assessment. This overview shows what OQM Health covers and what stays with you.
| Step | With OQM Health | Your part |
|---|---|---|
| Decide the scope | In the intro call we decide which teams are assessed. Each team gets its own QR code. | Involve your health and safety lead and employee representatives early. |
| Identify the risks | Anonymous OQM survey on phone or computer, 10 to 25 minutes per person. The same answers can later produce the OQM 80 profile. | Announce the survey and give people time for it. |
| Evaluate | The profile shows the five areas compared with the norm, the minimum factor and the lowest-scoring questions. | Discuss the results with managers and teams. |
| Decide and act | Start with the minimum factor. The OQM 80 profile shows the causes behind it; your OQM consultant can run the workshop. | Agree on measures, owners and deadlines, and carry them out. |
| Check the effect | Survey again after about a year. The comparison profile shows both points in time side by side. | Plan the follow-up survey. |
| Record | The reports as dated PDFs, as the basis of your records. | Write down the findings, the measures and the result of the review. |
One survey, two reports.
Your employees answer the full OQM survey. It takes a little longer than a questionnaire just for compliance, and for a good reason: the same answers can produce the OQM 80 profile. It shows why the minimum factor is low, whether leadership, structures, vision or trust are behind it. You unlock it later without surveying your team a second time, and tackle the risk at its source.
Costs
From $490 per team.
OQM Health is available without the annual package: you pay per team, plus applicable taxes. How many teams make sense and whether overall or comparison reports are added, we clarify in the intro call. Your OQM consultant bills their support separately.
per team, plus applicable taxes
No annual package, no setup fee.
FAQ
What to know before you start.
Does OQM Health replace our stress risk assessment?
OQM Health covers identifying and evaluating the risks with a standardized, anonymous questionnaire. The assessment is complete once you decide on measures, carry them out, check their effect and keep a record. The comparison profile helps with checking the effect.
Which areas does OQM Health cover?
Five areas: relationships with colleagues and with leadership, work organization, the working environment in the sense of the working climate, and work tasks. In terms of the HSE Management Standards, this covers support, relationships and role well, and parts of control and demands. Workload, working hours and how change is managed are only partly covered; add them with your health and safety lead, for example in team discussions.
Is it a legal requirement for us?
In Great Britain, yes: employers must assess the risk of work-related stress and act on it, and with five or more workers write it down. In other countries requirements differ; in the United States there is no specific federal requirement, and ISO 45003 offers international guidance.
What happens if we do not do it?
In Great Britain the HSE can take enforcement action, for example with improvement notices. The bigger cost is usually stress that goes unnoticed: absence and people leaving.
How anonymous is the survey?
Nobody is asked for name, age, gender or family status. Each team takes part through its own QR code.
Do we need to involve employees?
Yes. Employers must consult employees or their representatives on health and safety, and involving people early makes the results more useful. We discuss this in the intro call.
How often should we repeat it?
Review the assessment regularly and whenever work changes significantly, for example after a restructuring. With OQM, a new survey after about a year works well; the comparison profile then shows what has changed.
Why does the survey take longer than a compliance questionnaire?
Because it does more. In 10 to 25 minutes your employees answer the full OQM survey. OQM Health evaluates the stress risks from it. The same answers can later produce the OQM 80 profile, which shows the causes, without surveying your team a second time.
Why not use the free HSE Indicator Tool?
Free questionnaires are a good way to start if you handle the analysis and action planning yourself. OQM Health compares your values with a norm, shows the minimum factor as a priority and is linked to the OQM 80 profile, which shows the causes.
How does OQM Health differ from COPSOQ or the Job-Stress-Analysis?
COPSOQ and the Job-Stress-Analysis also measure strain, such as exhaustion or well-being. OQM Health deliberately measures the working conditions you can change and uses the minimum factor to show where to start. The price is per profile, regardless of the number of respondents, and the same answers produce the OQM 80 profile, which shows the causes. Read the full comparison
Which languages are available?
The survey is available in English, German and Spanish; the OQM Health report in English and German.
Intro call
Let’s talk about your stress risk assessment.
Tell us how many employees and teams you have and where you stand. We will get back to you personally and clarify scope, people involved and costs in a free intro call.
