European Week aims at cutting workplace accidents and diseases

The European Week is part of the Healthy Workplaces campaign on risk assessment. During this week hundreds of campaign events and activities will take place all over Europe. These include conferences and exhibitions, training sessions and activities where both large and small companies work together. The common theme linking all these events is promoting the importance of carrying out risk assessment in every workplace.

Jukka Takala, Director of EU-OSHA, says: “Every three-and-a-half minutes somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes and every four-and-a-half seconds an EU worker is involved in an accident that forces them to stay at home for at least three working days*. This is unacceptable! We need a change, and this change starts with assessing workplace risks. We have to make employers, workers, safety representatives and policy makers aware that proper risk assessment is the key to good workplace safety and health management.”

The success of the Healthy Workplaces campaign and its European Week is largely due to the support of the EU-OSHA network of focal points in the 27 EU Member States and accession countries. The contribution of many local and regional initiatives carried out by trade unions, enterprises, NGOs and government administrations also play an important role. All these activities show that workplace accident and illness prevention is a top priority in Europe.

The newly published Risk Assessment Magazine is one of many initiatives to increase awareness about the importance of proper risk management. It shows examples of good practice by government ministries, employers’ organisations and trade unionists from across Europe to improve workplace risk management.

###

Further reading

See the campaign website

Read the Risk Assessment Magazine

Access our Risk assessment Entry Point

TV journalists: Footage material on risk assessment, pre-edited report (3/10 min)

Notes to editors

• *Every year 5,720 people die in the European Union as a consequence of work-related accidents, according to EUROSTAT figures (1). Besides that, the International Labour Organisation estimates (2) that an additional 159,500 workers in the EU die every year from occupational diseases. Taking both figures into consideration, it is estimated that every three-and-a-half minutes somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes and that every four-and-a-half seconds an EU worker is involved in an accident that forces them to stay at home for at least three working days (3).

(1) EUROSTAT 2005: Figure in recorded economic sectors covering 87% of the workforce in the 27 EU Member States.

(3) ILO estimates 2008

• The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up by the European Union to help meet the information needs in the field of occupational safety and health. Based in Bilbao, Spain, the Agency aims to improve the lives of people at work by stimulating the flow of technical, scientific and economic information between all those involved in occupational safety and health issues.

•  “Healthy Workplaces: Good for you. Good for business. A European campaign on Risk Assessment” is EU-OSHA’s Europe-wide information campaign, designed to raise awareness of the importance of Risk Assessment and to make European workplaces safer, healthier and more productive.
  The campaign runs for two-years (2008/2009) and is backed by the EU Presidencies, the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European social partners. During the European Week for Safety and Health at Work (20-24 October 2008 and 19-23 October 2009), a series of events will be organised, involving the focal points, which are usually the national OSH authorities in each Member State.
  The campaign also features Good Practice Awards, which recognise companies and organisations that have made outstanding contributions in promoting risk assessment in the workplace. The campaign engages a wide range of businesses and organisations, to help get the key messages across to their partners.
  Participating organisations and individuals can download a personalised “Certificate of Participation” or show their commitment by getting involved as a campaign sponsor or partner.
  See the campaign partner offer: http://osha.europa.eu/campaigns/hw2008/partners