5 October is teachers' day

Education and research employs 14.7 million workers, represents 5.7% of EU GDP, and educates 93 million pupils but is second only to health and social work in concern over work-related stress, violence, or threat of violence, bullying, or harassment in the EU-27. Over 80% of workplaces expressed concern regarding concern over work-related stress. The main cause of health outcomes related to psychosocial risks was identified as having to deal with difficult customers, patients, pupils, and similar. Despite this, fewer than 50% of workplaces had procedures (i.e. systemic approaches) in place, although 60% of establishments had provided training to deal with psychosocial risks. (http://ESENER.EU) EU-OSHA is carrying out detailed secondary analysis of the ESENER data to learn lessons from the outcomes of the survey carried out in 2009.

Prevention in the education sector should be approached in the same way as in any other sector, following a risk-assessment based method to identify hazards, risks, potential health outcomes, and establish priorities for prevention. EU-OSHA has a wide range of materials on how to carry out risk assessment http://osha.europa.eu/en/topics/riskassessment including fact sheets on health and safety management http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/factsheets/45/view  and risk identification http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/factsheets/46/view in the education sector, a factsheet http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/factsheets/47/view  on dealing with violence in the sector and an efacts on violence in education http://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/e-facts/efact31/view.

In addition, EU-OSHA promotes "whole school" approaches that integrate occupational safety and health into education curricula while at the same time address prevention issues in the educational establishment. 

European Employers and Unions in the sector recognize the challenges facing the sector, and in June 2010, the European Commission launched a new social dialogue committee in education with teachers, trainers, lecturers and education authorities from across the EU. The new committee brings together the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) – composed of teachers’, trainers’ and lecturers’ trade unions – and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) – representing education ministries, regional and local authorities, state agencies and other types of employers’ organisations. The ETUCE and EFEE are, already involved in negotiations with social partner organisations from other sectors on adopting EU-level guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/10/721&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en