The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is today launching the Healthy Workplaces Summit 2022. The conference aims to highlight the knowledge and experience accumulated over the past two years of the “Healthy Workplaces” campaign.
EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces: Let’s Release the Burdens campaign has helped raise awareness of how to effectively prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders, which remain a major concern. I commend the campaign partners for their commitment and look forward to exchanging views at the Summit on what more we can do to protect workers’ health.
Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights
Europe’s most relevant experts and decision-makers will meet in Bilbao on November 14-15 to reflect on the most important results of the campaign and exchange proposals for future strategies to effectively prevent musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), such as disorders of the muscles, joints and tendons.
Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, highlights the campaign’s achievements to date:
“Ensuring that workers benefit from a safe working environment, adapted to their professional needs and allowing them to prolong their participation in the labor market is one of the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Last year, the Commission presented the EU Strategic Framework for Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027, which aims to manage change, improve preparedness and increase preparedness. EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces: Let’s Release the Burdens campaign has helped raise awareness of how to effectively prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders, which remain a major concern. I commend the campaign partners for their commitment and look forward to exchanging views at the Summit on what more we can do to protect workers’ health.”
EU-OSHA Acting Executive Director William Cockburn explains the scale of the problem below:
“Although MSDs can be prevented, they remain the most common work-related health problem in Europe. Physical and psychosocial risk factors (such as excessive workloads) contribute to the development or exacerbation of MSDs. This situation has no doubt been aggravated by the changes in the work environment, caused more recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. The recent OSH Pulse survey confirms that 30% of workers suffer from bone, joint or muscle pain or problems, 27% suffer from stress, depression or anxiety and 37% suffer from general fatigue. Unfortunately, this trend is set to continue in post-pandemic workplaces. Let’s keep working to bring those numbers down.”
The opening session will feature a number of high-level speakers who will discuss how to “lighten the load” for EU workers, including:
- Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights,
- Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy of the Spanish Government,
- Idoia Mendia Cueva, Vice-President and Minister of Labor and Employment of the Basque Government, and
- Dragon? Pîslaru, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee.
Kate?ina Št?pánková, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, representing the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, contributed to the debate with a videotaped statement.
Researchers and representatives of national and European authorities will share their opinions during three parallel sessions: challenges and innovative solutions for MSD inspections in companies; effective management of chronic MSDs and the relationship between MSDs and psychosocial risks.
The discussions won’t stop there, as the summit promises more exciting conversations about OSH in the new world of work: a keynote on “Creating Safer Algorithms for Workers”, followed by a panel discussion on this topic.
One of the highlights of the summit will be the Healthy Workplace Best Practices Awards ceremony, which will recognize the eight winning and eight honored organizations for their innovative MTCT prevention measures.
The 2022 EU-OSHA and European Business Network OSH Awards will also take place. The two organizations are collaborating on this awards program to raise awareness among SMEs of the importance of OSH.
We invite anyone interested in OSH and MSDs to watch the Summit’s live webcast. follow us on Twitter with the hashtags #EUOSHAsummit and #EUhealthyworkplaces.
Finally, EU-OSHA also looks to the future and the next edition of the Healthy Workplaces campaign for 2023-2025: “Safe and healthy work in the digital age”, which will be launched in October 2023 .
Connections:
Notes to Editor:
The Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2020-2022, “Healthy Workplaces: Let’s Relax the Burdens”, aims to raise awareness of work-related MSDs and disseminate information on the prevention and management of these disorders. EU-OSHA focal points coordinate the campaign at national level, which is supported by official campaign partners and associated media, as well as the Enterprise Europe Network. The six main objectives of the campaign are:
- raise awareness of the importance of preventing work-related MSDs by providing facts and figures on exposure to MSDs and their consequences for individuals, companies and society;
- promote risk assessment and proactive management of MSDs through access to relevant tools, advice, audio-visual aids and materials;
- show that MSDs are a problem for everyone but that they can be successfully combated;
- improve understanding of new and emerging risks that MSDs can produce;
- promote the importance of supporting workers with chronic MSDs in their reintegration and retention in employment, and demonstrate how this can be successfully achieved;
- encourage effective collaboration by bringing together different stakeholders and facilitating the exchange of information and best practices.