Occupational safety and health in figures
The European Agency for Safety and Health at work collects information on occupational safety and health statistics and carries out surveys and polls from across Europe. We cover areas such as accidents at work, demographic trends and work-related diseases, risk management at the workplace, people’s perceptions of Europe's working environment.
The reports produced by the Agency's European Risk Observatory analyse data from sources at national and EU level and describe the implications of these figures for occupational safety and health (see, for example, our “OSH in figures” reports).
The Agency maintains close co-operation with the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and Eurostat, the EU’s statistical office, in order to build up a clear picture of occupational safety and health in the EU.
Statistical publications on safety and health
EU-OSHA reports provide information on specific worker groups, exposures, health outcomes, and industrial sectors, based on the collection, analysis and consolidation of existing hard data from national and international data sources.
Access our latest statistical publications 
- Summary - New risks and trends in the safety and health of women at work (2011)
- Workplace Violence and Harassment: a European Picture (2011)
- A review of methods used across Europe to estimate work-related accidents and illnesses among the self-employed (2010)
ESENER - European survey of enterprises on new and emerging risks
EU-OSHA's European survey of enterprises on new and emerging risks (ESENER) explores the views of managers and workers' representatives on how health and safety risks are managed at their workplace.
From the range of workplace risks, the survey places particular focus on the growing – and relatively new - area of psychosocial risks. These risks, which are linked to the way work is designed, organised and managed, as well as to the economic and social context of work, result in an increased level of stress and can lead to serious deterioration of mental and physical health.
Access the ESENER dedicated section
Pan-European opinion poll on occupational safety and health - 2012
Opinion poll design
| Universe | Population aged 18+ with usual place of residence and in the respective language | |
| Sample | Representative sample in each of 36 participating European countries | |
| Method of data collection | CATI (Computer-Assisted Telephone Interviews) across 31 countries. | |
| Sample size | c36,000 interviews (approximately 1,000 per country except in Lichtenstein with 200 interviews conducted) | |
| Fieldwork period | 28th October 2011 to 17th January 2012 |
Questionnaire overview
- Do you think the number of people suffering from job-related stress in [country] will increase, decrease or stay around the same over the next five years?
- Regarding safety and health risks at the workplace, do you consider yourself….? (Very well informed | Fairly well informed | Not very well informed | Not at all informed)
- Many European governments are considering or have decided to increase their retirement age because people are living for longer. In your view, how important, if at all, are good health and safety practices to help people work for longer before they retire? (Very important | Fairly important | Not very important | Not at all important)
- If you raised a health and safety problem in your workplace with your supervisor, how confident are you that it would be addressed? (Very confident | Fairly confident | Not very confident | Not at all confident)
- How much do you agree or disagree with the following statement.
In order for [country] to be economically competitive, workplaces need to follow good health and safety practices? (Strongly agree | Tend to agree | Neither agree nor disagree | Tend to disagree | Strongly disagree)
Download the results
Europe Pan-European poll 2012 press kit
Pan-European opinion poll on occupational safety and health - 2009
What do Europeans think about their working conditions?
The poll provides current and reliable data on people’s perception of their working environment, such as
- Deciding factors when looking for a new job
- Work as cause for ill health
- Development of safety and health at work
- Impact of the economic crisis on working conditions
- Information levels regarding occupational safety and health risks
Download the results
Other information sources on OSH statistics
European sources
EUROSTAT website and EUROSTAT Labour Force Survey 2007 ad hoc module on accidents at work and work-related health problems
- European Foundation for the Improvement of Working and Living Conditions (EUROFUND): European Working Conditions Surveys and other surveys
- DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities: improving working conditions
- MEADOW - a European project (closed in 2010) designed to set out Guidelines for collecting and interpreting harmonised data at the European level on organisational change and its economic and social impacts.
International sources
- ILO International Labour Organisation
- Hämäläinen P, Saarela KL, Takala J: Global trend according to estimated number of occupational accidents and fatal work-related diseases at region and country level
A summary of four secondary analysis reports: Understanding workplace management of safety and health, psychosocial risks and worker participation through ESENER
