The "Work Well Feel Well" ("Bien dans son travail") project was launched by the Director-General in 2017 and has become one of the pillars of mental health at CERN. It aims to promote and improve the quality of working life at CERN, in particular by tackling the adverse effects of stress.

The project is led by a multidisciplinary working group, with members of the HR Department, the HSE Unit, the Staff Association and the Ombud. Since its inception, several measures have been implemented to reduce stress factors at CERN, to boost resilience to stress and to help those affected through a number of support structures.

"The first phase of the project highlighted some particularities of CERN", explains Marie-Luce Falipou, project leader. "The survey conducted in 2018 revealed that, although CERN is a demanding workplace, it offers personnel a degree of job autonomy as well as social support through mutual aid from their colleagues and line management, and this fosters a high-quality work environment. Work organisation, team management and communication emerged as key areas to develop in order to ensure good working conditions."

Even so, CERN staff are not immune to stress and its effects, and the COVID-19 pandemic will have had a serious impact on people's mental health. "During the pandemic, we worked closely with managers, who play an important role in the professional well-being of their teams, with whom they are in direct contact", says Marie-Luce Falipou. "And to continue this work, which is still relevant today, I am pleased to announce that the project team will launch the 'Efficiency and caring at work' awareness campaign. 'Caring at work' means wanting the best for ourselves and those around us and taking care of each other no matter what."

This awareness campaign is made up of 12 thought-provoking topics – all you have to do is take part. Fun exercises will help you explore, deepen your knowledge and share your experiences in your search for a better quality of life at work. To work efficiently in the medium-term, we need to be proactive in preserving our energy and health every day. The campaign also includes activities aimed at line managers, providing key information on how to take concrete action on a daily basis to reduce stress and improve working conditions for their teams. Because doing a good job and feeling good at work go hand in hand!

The official launch will be on 6 October, when Catherine Vasey*, Swiss burn-out specialist and designer of this campaign, will give a lecture on preventing burn-out.

"Through this new campaign, we hope to promote mental health at work and remind CERN personnel that stress is not inevitable and deserves our full attention", concludes Marie-Luce Falipou.

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* Catherine Vasey is a psychologist and author who has specialised in burn-out since 2000. For more information on the conference and to register, visit: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1302707/.