OSH News

On 19 May 2026, EU-OSHA welcomed a group of senior students from University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), enrolled in the ‘History of European Integration’ programme, to its headquarters in Bilbao. With in the frame of the ‘Aulas de la Experiencia’ initiative, the visit offered valuable insights into current and emerging workplace safety and health issues in Europe, fostering dialogue between EU-OSHA and lifelong learners.

The session opened with an introduction to European institutions in Spain, including EU-OSHA, by Executive Director William Cockburn. Presentations provided participants with an overview of the EU’s approach to occupational safety and health (OSH) and highlighted EU-OSHA’s work to make workplaces safer, healthier and more productive in Europe ─ covering over 30 million enterprises and some 200 million workers. It was highlighted that we still face 200 000 deaths per year in the EU due to workplace accidents and diseases, for example work-related cancer. This also includes 3 000 fatal workplace accidents. The cost of work‑related accidents, deaths and ill‑health in the EU is estimated at €476 billion each year (about 3.3% of its GDP).

Participants were also introduced to key challenges related to psychosocial risks and mental health at work. EU-OSHA’s European Healthy Workplaces Campaign ‘Together for mental health at work’, to be launched in October 2026, will focus on five priority areas: psychosocial risk assessment and management, harassment and violence, links between physical risks and mental health, specific risks in the health and social care sector, and supporting mental health at work. 

Finally, EU-OSHA’s OSHVET project aims at integrating OSH into vocational education and training (VET), and to provide teachers and students with practical information and resources for workplace safety and health, adapted to their needs. One example is a video competition, organised by the Spanish National Institute for Safety and Health at Work (INSST), aimed at the national VET community, with the aim of promoting a risk prevention culture among students. 

The visit included lively discussions, giving participants the opportunity to ask questions and exchange views with EU-OSHA representatives.