EU-OSHA reveals latest trends

Safe and healthy workplaces in Europe: EU-OSHA reveals latest trends at the 2023 EU Occupational Safety and Health Summit

Today, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is launching its flagship report Occupational safety and health in Europe: state and trends 2023 at the 2023 Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Summit in Stockholm. It provides a comprehensive review of the state and contextual developments of OSH in the European Union over the past years and provides insights into emerging trends.

EU-OSHA’s report “Occupational safety and health in Europe: state and trends 2023” provides an essential analysis of where things have improved in workplaces across the EU, but also where we still have a lot of work to do. – Nicolas Schmit

“For instance, between 1998 and 2019, non-fatal work accidents decreased by 58% in the EU, while fatal accidents dropped by 57%. Improved prevention measures, along with economic developments and workforce shifts contributed to these reductions. However, the greatest part of this decrease took place before 2010 and figures have been stagnating over the past years,” reports EU-OSHA Interim Executive Director William Cockburn. The report also gives an overview of potential improvements, stagnating and ambiguous developments as well as areas of concern like non-standard types of work, incomplete compliance with OSH regulation or physical inactivity, and future challenges.

Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights welcomed the report: “Health and safety at work is an essential part of any organisation’s operations. Changes at the workplace caused by the COVID crisis, the green, digital and demographic transitions, as well as by scientific and technological progress, led the Commission to adopt a new 2021-2027 EU Strategic framework on health and safety at work, in June 2021. EU-OSHA’s report “Occupational safety and health in Europe: state and trends 2023” provides an essential analysis of where things have improved in workplaces across the EU, but also where we still have a lot of work to do.”

EU-OSHA hopes that this publication will have a significant impact on future policy and approaches to safeguarding the safety and health of workers in Europe. The data can be easily viewed and analysed country by country using the OSH Barometer data visualisation tool.

The Occupational Safety and Health Summit is taking place on 15-16 May 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. This event, co-organised by the European Commission and the Swedish EU Presidency, brings together EU institutions, Member States, Social Partners and other stakeholders. EU-OSHA is actively engaging with the participants in discussions around the first lessons learned from the EU Strategic Framework, including the progress achieved on the ‘vision zero’ approach to work-related deaths. Other topics include mental health in working life, the role of the Social Partners, the effects of heat waves and climate change in the field of OSH and the evaluation of national OSH strategies.

In the context of ‘The Impact of Climate Change and Heatwaves on OSH’, EU-OSHA presents a guide on OSH and heat stress that provides practical guidance on how to manage the risks associated with working in heat and information on what to do if a worker begins to suffer from a heat-related illness or health problem.

Links:

• Check out the report, summary and policy brief on Occupational safety and health in Europe: state and trends 2023
• Consult the Heat at work – Guidance for workplaces
• Read more about the OSH summit

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