Work-related stress as a material ESG issue: a single-company case study on psychosocial risk, organizational health and business impact

Introduction Work-related stress and psychosocial risks are increasingly relevant to occupational health, organizational sustainability and ESG governance, but their integration into sustainability reporting remains limited. Methods We conducted a single-company case study of “Company X,” a medium-sized Italian manufacturing and technical services organization (782 workers, four sites), using seven documentary and indicator sources. A structured codebook, dual coding, reconciliation and triangulation were applied to link psychosocial determinants, occupational health processes, workforce indicators and ESG disclosure. Results Psychosocial risk was documented in occupational health and safety materials but only indirectly represented in ESG reporting. Company X showed process-level disclosure (risk assessment, participation and action planning) and partial outcome disclosure (absenteeism, turnover, training, near misses and engagement), but weak integration with presenteeism, cost estimation and board-level ESG governance. Conclusion The Stress-ESG Business Impact Framework operationalizes psychosocial risk as a material workforce issue by connecting determinants, prevention actions, aggregate outcomes and governance mechanisms. It can support ESG dashboards, materiality assessment and progressive disclosure without individual-level surveillance.