The new forms of work organisation that affect both the physical environment and the work processes and other organisational aspects of companies also have a great impact on the human relations of workers and are generating the appearance of occupational risks that have not been considered until now.

The evolution of work has historically taken into account technological development and the competitiveness of the market, and has generally forgotten that work is carried out by people with specific individual skills, motivations and expectations. In the first case, the risks generated by technological evolution usually give rise to problems of physical integrity and are generally obvious and close at hand (occupational accidents); in the second, the risks generate problems in human relations between workers, are not so obvious or so close at hand and are therefore difficult to prevent.

Psychosocial risks form part of the so-called “emerging risks”, which are as important or more important than any of the known or classic risks (health and safety) and, like these, have their origin in deficient working conditions, in this case, organisational ones. The importance that these new risks are acquiring, their continuous growth and the difficulty of identifying and preventing them means that they are becoming increasingly important in the preventive strategy of organisations.