Making Europe a safer, healthier and more productive place to work

Every year in the European Union there are 5,720 fatal work-related accidents and millions of people are injured or have their health seriously harmed in the workplace. Workers and employers need to be made aware of the risks that they face and how to manage them.

Sometimes, information is all that is required for an employer or worker to address safety and health issues effectively. We at EU-OSHA aim to be the central provider of that information and ensure that it is relevant to every user, regardless of size of enterprise or sector of activity. Set up in 1996 by the European Union and located in Bilbao, Spain, EU-OSHA is the main EU reference point for safety and health at work.

Our central role is to contribute to the improvement of working life in the European Union.

• We work with governments, employers and workers to promote a risk prevention culture.
• We analyse new scientific research and statistics on workplace risks.
• We anticipate new and emerging risks through our European Risk Observatory.
• We identify and share information, good practice and advice with a wide range of audiences, such as social partners - employers’ federations and trade unions.

Our main awareness-raising activity is the Healthy Workplaces campaign, which focuses on a different theme every two years.

EU-OSHA is a key player in the Community Strategy for Health and Safety at Work, 2007-2012, which aims to cut work-related accidents by a quarter across the EU and to reduce occupational illnesses.