Health and safety at work constitutes an important part of the European Union’s social policy and accounts for a substantial corpus of European legislation. Improving health and safety at work has been of major concern to EU authorities since the 1980s. With the introduction of legislation at European level, standards for the minimal protection of workers have been set. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which became legally binding with the Lisbon Treaty, and the European Pillar of Social Rights further reinforce the importance of this policy in EU legislation.
The European Parliament has frequently emphasised the need for optimal protection of workers’ health and safety. It has called in many resolutions, such as its resolution on the new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020, for all aspects directly or indirectly affecting the physical and mental well-being of workers to be covered.
Lot 3 covers expertise on all aspects of health and safety at work, including:
- new and emerging occupational health and safety risks, notably linked to new forms of employment and of work (e.g. teleworking, ageing workforce);
- major trends in the changing world of work (e.g. new technologies, including artificial intelligence);
- new occupational health and safety risk areas (e.g. dangerous substances);
- social partner agreements on occupational health and safety.
