The risk
Mental health and psychosocial risks are a significant and growing risk across transport, often driven by other risks outlined in this guidance. Job insecurity, excessive and irregular working hours, work intensification, surveillance, isolation and the pressure associated with safety-critical responsibilities contribute to stress, anxiety and burnout, affecting transport workers’ performance, safety and long-term wellbeing.
Fatigue, lone working and isolation, violence and harassment, precarious employment, algorithmic management and climate-related disruptions compound these risks and limit workers’ ability to recover. Where workers lack control over schedules, income or conditions, risks become systemic rather than individual. Long-distance and remote working, where workers are separated from their support networks for extended periods, further exacerbate these risks.
Young workers face heightened exposure due to limited experience and confidence in recognising and challenging unsafe practices. Many are also employed in informal or precarious positions, where training, safety measures and workplace protections are often lacking. These conditions can increase mental health risk and negatively impact young workers retention in the sector.
Cultural stigma around mental health persists across the transport industry, discouraging reporting and workers seeking support, allowing risks to escalate further and threaten safety of individuals and the workplace, and long-term workforce sustainability.
Companies and supply chain actors must recognise mental health and psychosocial risks are structural, and created and exacerbated by the way work is organised. As part of HRDD, it is essential to assess how work organisation, staffing levels, performance pressures, surveillance practices and employment conditions contribute to mental health and psychosocial risk.
Prevention and mitigation must include safe working schedules, practices and workloads and worker involvement in decisions affecting how work is organised. Mental health protections, policies and procedures must be embedded across all operations. This must include workers having access to safe reporting mechanisms, confidential support services, and the ability to raise concerns without the fear of retaliation or loss of income.
Effective prevention requires engagement with workers and trade unions, including the ITF, to identify risks and ensure protections are applied consistently, with particular attention given to young transport workers and others marginalised groups.