EU-OSHA Blog

It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of Dr Eusebio Rial-González. Seb died peacefully in his sleep on 18 December 2014 in his home town of Vigo, Spain, after a lengthy struggle with cancer.

As Head of the Prevention and Research Unit, Seb has been the architect of the Agency’s current Healthy Workplaces’ campaign on work-related stress and psychosocial risks – an area in which he had specialised earlier in his career as a researcher and consultant. Amongst his other EU-OSHA achievements, he can also count the design and launch of ESENER, the European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks,  the launch of the Online interactive Risk Assessment project, OiRA, and the setting up of the OSHwiki.

But alongside his many accomplishments, Seb will, above all,  be remembered at EU-OSHA as a well-respected colleague and for many of us a real friend. Whatever the issue, Seb’s first thoughts – professionally and personally – were invariably how he might help and support others and if possible to do it with a smile. His generous approach touched friends, colleagues and many others and he had an impressive ability to collect friends as well as professional contacts as he travelled across Europe.

He was a dedicated follower of Bruce Springsteen, having seen him in concert on over 20 occasions in at least five different countries. He would often quote ‘the Boss’ and so it’s somehow appropriate that we close this message with a Springsteen quote:  “The release date is just one day, but the record is forever.” 

Our condolences go to Seb’s family and many, many friends.