‘Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age’ is the latest edition of EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign for 2023-25. As digitalisation reshapes the workplace, this campaign aims to raise awareness, promote collaboration and pave the way for a future where occupational safety and health remain top priority alongside technological advancement.
The EU-OSHA Healthy Workplaces Campaign entitled ‘Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age’ aims to help employers in the EU to ensure decent working conditions and provide quality jobs, according to Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights.
In a landscape where over 80% of EU enterprises integrate personal computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices, the new Healthy Workplaces Campaign takes centre stage. With 93% of workers in large companies and 85% in micro companies using digital devices, this campaign addresses the evolving dynamics of work, emphasising the imperative of ensuring safety and health in a human-centred digital transformation.
As Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and collaborative robots become integral to work processes, the very nature of work is transforming. The campaign recognises the immense potential for improved occupational safety and health (OSH) while confronting emerging risks in this rapidly evolving environment.
Nicolas Schmit noted that the world of work has seen a huge transformation in recent years, with the rise of digital technologies, algorithmic management and remote working. “It is essential to strike the right balance: as we reap the benefits of the digital age, we must also make sure we don’t compromise on the human-centred approach. The EU-OSHA Healthy Workplaces Campaign – Safe and healthy work in the digital age – will help employers in the EU to ensure decent working conditions and provide quality jobs.”
Joaquín Pérez Rey, Interim Secretary of State for Employment and Social Economy of Spain and representing the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, added: “Current policies in the EU are serving as a driver of change in this digital transformation, setting strategic objectives in relation to the digitalisation of companies and measures of society.
“From the Presidency of the Council we highlight the importance of the content of this campaign and the opportunity of its messages so that the technological advances contribute to improving working conditions and the safety and health of workers, as well as stopping the precariousness that threatens employment. This campaign will help drive a digital transformation of the world of work that is fair and leaves no one behind, spreading knowledge about digital solutions that represent opportunities for companies and workers.”
Drawing upon EU-OSHA research, as outlined in the ‘OSH Overview on Digitalisation’, the campaign will explore five priority areas over the next two years – Digital Platform Work, Automation of Tasks, Remote and Hybrid Work, Worker Management through Artificial Intelligence; and Smart Digital Systems.
Running since 2000, the campaigns make available a wide range of information and resources such as practical guides and tools to any organisation or company looking to improve workplace safety and health. The campaigns feature key milestones, including the Good Practice Awards and the Healthy Workplaces Film Award recognising exceptional contributions in promoting OSH, as well as the European Weeks for Safety and Health at Work, which take place each October.
Previous editions focused on preventing and managing work-related musculoskeletal disorders, managing dangerous substances and promoting healthy workplaces for all ages.
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) researches, develops and distributes impartial safety and health information and organises pan-European awareness raising campaigns.
Set up by the EU in 1994 and based in Bilbao, Spain, EU-OSHA brings together representatives from the European Commission, Member State governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, and leading experts in each of the EU Member States and beyond.
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