Factsheets

Factsheet 86 - Preventing harm to cleaning workers

Cleaning is carried out in every workplace. The cleaning industry itself is a growing sector, as it is a service that is increasingly being put out to tender. While there are some very large cleaning contractors, the sector is dominated by small businesses, many of which employ fewer than 10 workers. Cleaning is an essential task, and one that when done well can reduce both risks to workers’ safety and health and costs to the business, for example by extending the life of workplace equipment and furnishings, and keeping floor surfaces in good condition. In some industries such as the food and catering sectors poor cleaning can cause a business to fail.

Factsheet 85 - Assessment, elimination and substantial reduction of occupational risks. Summary of an Agency report

Risk assessment is the basis for successful health and safety management, and the key to reducing work-related accidents and occupational diseases. If implemented well, it can improve not only workplace safety and health, but business performance in general. The report supports the European ‘healthy workplaces’ campaign 2008/09 on risk assessment by providing information on successful interventions in the workplace to eliminate or substantially reduce risks. The report is aimed at those who are responsible for carrying out risk assessments in the workplace and for making decisions on preventive measures.

Factsheet 84 - Expert forecast on emerging chemical risks related to occupational safety and health

There are an estimated 167,000 work-related fatalities in the EU-27 every year. About 159,000 are attributable to work-related diseases, of which 74,000 may be linked to workplace exposure to hazardous substances. The Community Strategy 2002-06 called on the Agency to ‘set up a risk observatory’ to ‘anticipate new and emerging risks’. The expert forecast was formulated within this context, from the results of three consecutive questionnaire-based surveys using the Delphi method. Forty-nine experts from 21 European countries participated in this forecast.

Factsheet 83 - Good practice in preventing risks to young workers. A Summary

Young people are more at risk of harm from work for a variety of reasons. They lack experience and maturity, awareness of risks, and skills and training; they may be unaware of their rights and employers’ duties regarding health and safety; and they may be reluctant to speak out about problems and keen to please their new employer. They therefore need to be placed in safe and suitable jobs that are matched to their skills and mental and physical abilities and given adequate training and supervision.

Factsheet 82 - OSH in the school curriculum — Member State activities. A Summary

To underpin occupational safety and health (OSH) education in schools and colleges it is necessary to formalise it in curriculum requirements. The report reviews how the Member States have been including OSH and risk education in their national curricula.

Factsheet 81 - Risk assessment — the key to healthy workplaces

Risk assessment is the basis for successful safety and health management, and the key to reducing work-related accidents and occupationaliseases. If it is implemented well, it can improve workplace safety and health — and business performance in general.

Factsheet 80 - Risk assessment — roles and responsibilities

Workers’ safety and health is protected in Europe by an approach based on assessing and managing risk. In order to carry out effective workplace risk assessment, all those involved require a clear understanding of the legal context, concepts, the process of assessing the risks and the role to be played by the main actors involved in the process.

Factsheet 79 - Protecting workers in hotels, restaurants and catering

The growing hotel, restaurant and catering sector (HORECA) employs more than 7.8 million, mostly young and low skilled people in the European Union. Typically, employees work long, irregular hours doing physically demanding work. The risks to workers’ safety and health are many and varied, resulting from prolonged standing, carrying and lifting, exposure to high noise levels and working in too hot or cold environments. Workers also suffer cuts and burns, trips, slips and falls, and come into contact with dangerous substances. The work can be monotonous, stressful and draining. Nevertheless, employers and employees can work together to improve workplace safety and health. The prevention report on the HORECA sector highlights key risk prevention measures.

Factsheet 78 - Work-related musculoskeletal disorders: prevention report. A summary.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common work-related problem in Europe - 25 % of the EU-27 workers report suffering from backache and 23 % complain about muscular pains. First, there are preventive steps that have to be taken. But for workers who already have MSDs, the challenge is to maintain their employability, keep them working and, if necessary, reintegrate them into the workplace. This fact sheet highlights the key findings of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work's prevention report, which focuses on the prevention of MSDs and the development and progress made in this area since the previous MSDs campaign in 2000. The report consists of two parts: a state-of-the-art review of the research literature with respect to work-related interventions preventing MSDs risks; and 15 case studies demonstrating how the problems have been solved at the workplace level.

Factsheet 77 - The business benefits of good occupational safety and health

Occupational safety and health (OSH) is good for business as well as a legal and social obligation. Enterprises appreciate that OSH prevents people from being harmed or made ill through work, but it is also an essential part of a successful business.