Introduction Given the changing nature of employment, including the long term shift from manufacturing and agriculture to the service sector, an increasing proportion of the workforce is engaged in employment which is less physically demanding but which brings with it a range of stress-related and psycho-social risks. Eurofound (2006) estimated that in 2005, 20% of EU-15 workers reported health related risk due to work-related stress and the EU OSHA (2007) has identified high emotional demands and work intensification as key emerging psychosocial risks for the occupational health and safety of workers.

Methods This paper draws on the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey to examine differences in the exposure of workers across Europe to (a) work stressors (physical risks, chemical/biological hazards, physically demanding work, psychosocial risks and work pressure); (b) the mediating role of work organised to enhance autonomy, supportiveness of management and colleagues and (b) the response of workers in terms of the subjective experience of stress, anxiety and depression.

Results Results to include the following:

1. Country differences in exposure to workplace hazards and stressors

2. Extent to which these are linked to country differences in the composition of jobs by sector

3. The role played by the organisation of work (autonomy, supportiveness) in mediating the impact on workers

4. Country differences in the extent to which they adopt forms of work organisation that ameliorate the impact of stressors on workers.

Discussion The organisation of work has an important role to play in ameliorating the impact of workplace risks on outcomes for workers.