Protocol for evaluating a workplace intervention within the framework of consultations for suffering at work in French-speaking Switzerland

Psychosocial suffering involves diverse human, social and economic costs. Some 34.4% of workers in Switzerland report chronic stress related to their jobs. Medical consultations for suffering at work aim to maintain—or renew—patients’ abilities to make decisions and act following a diagnosis of psychological suffering related to their work; they also aim to help workers return to their workstations or remain there. Workplace interventions by consulting occupational physicians can go beyond the subjective issues: they can be offered to employees, in anticipation of a return to work when this appears feasible from the outset.