EU-OSHA activities in OSH research

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "EU-OSHA activities in OSH research"

Rolf Montgomery
6 years ago
Views:

EU-OSHA activities in OSH research Bilbao

October 2016 Safety and health at work is

1 EU-OSHA activities in OSH research Bilbao European Forum S2R Future Safety & Security Research in Europe 2016 Dr. Dietmar Elsler Project Manager Bilbao October 2016 Safety and health at work is everyone s concern. It s good for you. It s good for business.

2 Why do we value health and safety outcomes in monetary terms? Regularly make tradeoffs between costs and risks This is valid for both everyday life and policy making decisions If we don t value life and health impacts, will implicitly make trade-off or may get assigned zero-weight. 2

These costs are very important Provide economic

employers, since they do not bear full costs 57%

(2015), Costs to Britain of workplace fatalities

3 These costs are very important Provide economic justification to support, incentivise and regulate employers, since they do not bear full costs 57% 19% 24% Employer Government Individual Source: HSE (2015), Costs to Britain of workplace fatalities and self-reported injuries and ill health in 2013/14 link 3

4 Summary: Project overview and publications Phase 1: large-scale study to identify and assess the available data in each Member State that can be used to develop a model for calculating costs. Output: overview report of the availability and quality of the data (spring 2017). Phase 2a: produce an approximate economic costing model based on international available data sources (in collaboration with ILO, Finland and Singapore). Output: report on the development of the approximate model (September 2017). Phase 2b: development of a sophisticated economic costing model based on national data sources. Output: report on the development of the sophisticated model (end 2018). Seminar for stakeholders to discuss the implications of the model in 2018 Data visualisation tool and infographics Further dissemination and evaluation in

5 Establishing a prevention culture on dangerous substances while targeting specific groups of workers - HWC 2018/2019 In pursuit of its overall goal, the campaign will tackle four priority themes: 1) Promoting risk assessment, elimination and substitution, and the hierarchy of prevention measures. 2) Raising awareness of risks linked to exposure to carcinogens at work. 3) Addressing specific groups of workers. 4) Improving awareness of policy developments / legislative framework (REACH and CLP). 5

6 ESENER-2: Reasons why workplace risk assessments are not carried out regularly % establishments, EU The hazards and risks are already known The necessary expertise is lacking There are no major problems The procedure is too burdensome Base: establishments in the EU-28 that do not carry out risk assessments regularly 6

7 Foresight on new and emerging OSH risks associated with ICT by year project ( ) to produce scenarios of the future To help policy-makers gain insights into future OSH challenges To better understand what decisions could help avoid/ encourage these futures Background EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work To anticipate potential negative effects of new technologies and changes in work organisation on workers health and safety EU-OSHA s Scoping study for a foresight on new and emerging OSH risks : The impact of ICT and work location on OSH - top ranking based on desk research and stakeholders consultation Link to European Commission priority: Digitisation of the economy and development of the EU Digital Single Market 7

Increasing technological complexity Too much trust in the infallibility of technology Understanding the underlying processes?

8 Working with robots and Artificial Intelligence OSH Challenges Human-Machine Interfaces Ergonomics Safety Effect of (continuous) cognitive load? Increasing technological complexity Too much trust in the infallibility of technology Understanding the underlying processes? Work organisation Who does what, the robot or the worker? Can/will a worker take instructions from a robot-boss? Pressures on workers to perform at same level as robots Peers are robots social support Electromagnetic fields? 8

9 Digital work and the 24/7 global economy OSH Challenges What and how are workers data collected, shared and used? Available all the time, including at unsocial times Work intensity - Interruptions and unpredictability of demand at short notice Dependence to technology and Fear Of Missing Out syndrome Constant pressure for competitive self-promotion on the web Virtualisation of work relationships, feeling of isolation Ergonomic risks Online workers: Intensive use of ICT on devices/ environments not ergonomically designed for (intense) work Offline crowd-workers: performing most hazardous jobs: OSH training? Safe equipment? Multiple jobs - no job for life Interaction of exposures - How to link exposures to health effects? A dispersed workforce - Risk assessment? OSH training, monitoring and enforcement? Legal status of online work exchange platforms? Who is the employer? Responsible for prevention/osh? What s work? - Evaluation of worker s performance and payment Race to the bottom of working conditions and OSH 9

10 Thank you for your attention 10

Managing stress and psychosocial risks at work

Managing stress and psychosocial risks at work EU-OSHA Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2014-15 Brenda O Brien, EU-OSHA Brussels Liaison Office EuroHealthNet Brussels, 19 May 2015 Safety and health at work