About us
Every three and a half minutes, somebody in the EU dies from work-related causes. That's more than 150,000 deaths a year as a result of either work-related accidents (8,900) or occupational diseases (142,000). Workers and employers need to be made aware of the risks that they face, and how to manage them. But health and safety bodies in the individual EU Member States cannot do this alone. That is why the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work was set up, in 1996. Our mission is to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive. We do this by bringing together and sharing knowledge and information, to promote a culture of risk prevention.
Located in Bilbao, Spain, we have a dedicated staff of occupational safety and health (OSH), communication and administrative specialists. At the national level, we are represented through a network of focal points, which are usually the lead OSH bodies in the individual Member States.
The Agency is a tripartite organisation, this means that we work with governments, employers and workers representatives. We are a single reference point for OSH information. We commission, collect and publish new scientific research and statistics on OSH risks. We share good practice, and communicate information in a variety of ways to reach workers and workplaces. Our publicity campaigns include the European Week for Safety and Health at Work, which focuses on different themes. We also provide information on our website, via our electronic newsletter OSHmail, and in a range of printed publications. Furthermore, we help to explain European legislation on OSH. And we look out for risks which may only be emerging, due to the fast pace of change in the workplace. Our European Risk Observatory aims to identify new and emerging risks. In order to achieve this, it will give an overview of safety and health at work in Europe, describe the trends and underlying factors, and anticipate changes in work and their likely consequences for safety and health. Additionally, it aims to stimulate debate and reflection among the Agency's stakeholders and to provide a platform for debate between policy-makers at various levels.
