Skip to main content
IOSH Magazine: Safety, Health and Wellbeing in the world of work - return to the homepage IOSH Magaazine logo
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit @ioshmagazine on Twitter
  • Visit IOSH Magazine on LinkedIn
Non-verbal communication
How to build trust
March/April 2023 issue

Main navigation

  • Home
    • Browse previous issues
    • Member accolades
    • Member tributes
  • Health
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Sickness absence
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Rehabilitation
      • Personal injury
      • Return to work
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Achieving Fellowship
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Professional skills
      • Qualifications
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Jobs
  • Covid-19
  • Knowledge Bank
    • Back to basics
    • Book club
    • Infographics
    • Podcast
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Videos
  • Products & Services
  • Management
    • Human factors
      • Sickness absence
      • Accident reduction
      • Behavioural safety
      • Control of contractors
      • Migrant workers
      • Older workers
      • Reporting
      • Safe systems of work
      • Young workers
    • Leadership and management
      • Employee involvement
      • Leadership
      • Management systems
    • Management standards
      • ISO 45001
      • ISO 45003
    • Planning
      • Assurance
      • Compliance
      • Emergency planning
      • Insurance
    • Strategy
      • Corporate governance
      • Performance/results
      • Regulation/enforcement
      • Reputation
    • Sustainability
      • Human capital and Vision Zero
  • Health
    • COVID-19
    • Mental health and wellbeing
      • Bullying
      • Drugs and alcohol
      • Mental health
      • Stress
      • Wellbeing
    • Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)
      • Ergonomics
      • Manual handling
      • Vibration
    • Occupational cancer
      • Asbestos
      • Hazardous substances
      • Radiation
  • Safety
    • Incident management
      • Chemicals
      • Electricity
      • Fire
      • First aid
      • Slips and trips
    • Non-health related fatalities
      • Road safety
      • Work at height
    • Risk management
      • Confined spaces
      • Disability
      • Legionella
      • Lifting operations
      • Lone workers
      • Noise
      • Personal protective equipment
      • Violence at work
      • Work equipment
      • Workplace transport
  • Skills
    • Communication
    • Personal performance
      • Career development
      • Competencies
      • Personal development
      • Qualifications
      • Professional skills
      • Achieving Fellowship
    • Stakeholder management
    • Working with others
      • Leadership
      • Future Leaders
  • Transport and logistics
  • Third sector
  • Retail
  • Mining and quarrying
  • Rail
  • Rehabilitation
    • Personal injury
    • Return to work
  • Utilities
  • Manufacturing and engineering
  • Construction
  • Sector: IOSH Branch
    • Sector: Northern Ireland
    • Sector: Midland
    • Sector: Merseyside
    • Sector: Manchester and North West Districts
    • Sector: Ireland East
    • Sector: Ireland
    • Sector: Edinburgh
    • Sector: Desmond-South Munster
    • Sector: Qatar
    • Sector: Oman
    • Singapore
    • Sector: South Coast
    • Sector: South Wales
    • Sector: Thames Valley
    • Sector: Tyne and Wear
    • Sector: UAE
    • Sector: West of Scotland
    • Sector: Yorkshire
  • Healthcare
  • Sector: Fire
  • Sector: Financial/general services
  • Sector: Energy
  • Education
  • Sector: Communications and media
  • Chemicals
  • Sector: Central government
  • Catering and leisure
  • Agriculture and forestry
  • Sector: Local government
  • Sector: IOSH Group
    • Sector: Financial Services
    • Sector: Sports Grounds and Events
    • Rural industries
    • Sector: railway
    • Public Services
    • Sector: Offshore
    • Sector: Hazardous Industries
    • Sector: Food and Drink
    • Sector: Fire Risk Management
    • Education
    • Construction
    • Sector: Aviation and Aerospace
Quick links:
  • Home
  • Categories
  • News
Employee involvement
Wellbeing
Work equipment

EU-OSHA analysis of new and emerging risks: stronger OSH protections needed

Open-access content Thursday 4th August 2022
Authors
Nick Warburton
web_man-marking-out-6-feet-distance_credit_iStock-1262291587.jpg

iStock

A new report from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has underlined the need for stronger OSH protections in response to the growing focus on psychosocial work to support wellbeing and productivity, changes to working practices brought about by COVID-19 and technological advances in the economy. 

The overview report on how European workplaces manage safety and health also noted that risks around OSH management are predicted to intensify with, for example, ‘the expansion of supply chains to include smaller organisations that have comparatively more informal working practices and allocation of responsibilities, and the introduction of novel business models’. 

The report, published on 26 July, analysed the results of the third European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER 2019), which covered more than 45,000 business enterprises in 33 countries, comprising the EU-27 plus Iceland, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. 

ESENER is a monitoring tool for OSH in Europe that enables European and national policymakers to measure longitudinal trends and identify changing OSH patterns, such as the reported presence of health and safety risks, OSH management, psychosocial risks, OSH drivers and barriers, including psychosocial risk management, and employee involvement. 

Building on earlier surveys in 2009 and 2014, ESENER 2019 is significant because it also provides valuable data on new topics that are relevant to OSH management, notably digitalisation, perceptions of the quality of preventative services, and evaluation of accidents and sickness absence. 

‘These results are published at a time when there is a vital need to reinforce the approach to OSH management,’ the report noted. ‘The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly transformed the working environment, demanding re-evaluation of the risks that workers face and the adoption of measures tailored to new circumstances.’

The report’s conclusion highlighted a number of issues that were identified in the ESENER 2019 analysis. 

Considering the growing focus on the importance of psychosocial work, the report noted that ‘establishments in the EU-27 do not seem to prioritise psychosocial risk management in their OSH management systems’.

Since the previous survey in 2014, employers have not increased OSH measures to manage these types of risks in the workplace, for example, by reorganising work or intervening if employees are working excessively long hours, the report said.

The analysis revealed that psychosocial risks were lower in enterprises that employed an occupational health doctor or an expert for accident prevention. The conclusion drawn was that ‘OSH professionals can help to identify or reduce psychosocial risks upfront, as opposed to what was the case with other risk factors.’

The report also found that this was also the case with other measures that have been introduced, for instance, a procedure to deal with possible cases of threats, abuse or assault, and a plan to prevent work-related stress. 

As with the results of the previous 2009 and 2014 surveys, the report concluded that about three-quarters of EU-27 enterprises conduct risk assessments regularly. 

However, while the analysis found that most large organisations undertook risk assessments regularly, smaller organisations, especially micro businesses, tended to use less formalised OSH management practices, which in some cases suggested a weakness in the management of the working environment.

An additional concern was the ‘possible OSH management response’ to recent changes in the workplaces brought about the pandemic, which took place after the ESENER 2019 survey concluded. 

The report noted that a quarter of companies surveyed said they did not conduct risk assessments regularly; the main reason given being that the ‘risks are already known’. 

The analysis found that companies that said they didn’t conduct risk assessments regularly were most frequently found in sectors that posed serious OSH risks, such as mining and quarrying, and agriculture, fishing and forestry. 

Significantly, many risk assessments did not entirely cover all relevant work premises, such as homes, or all of the individuals at risk from hazards in the working environment, the report noted.

The report found that regular risk assessments were more likely when an OSH representative was employed. In its recommendations, the report said that employees needed to be involved in the implementation of OSH measures, particularly to ensure the home environment was covered in regular risk assessments.

‘This shows that employees play a key “bottom-up” function in ensuring the completeness of OSH management activities,’ the report said.

To improve OSH culture, the report added that the focus needed to be on ‘hard-to-reach’ establishments that do not conduct regular risk assessments. ‘Challenging the notion that the “risks are already known” is key to changing behaviours,’ it concluded. 

Although only around a quarter of companies surveyed discussed the OSH impact of digital technologies in the workplace, the report said it was important that OSH management kept pace with digitalisation trends, particularly with the increased move to home working and the adoption of new business models. 

‘OSH services, guidance and inspections can play a role in alerting establishments of their duties to ensure a safe work environment,’ the report said.

It added that OSH representatives also had a critical role in any discussions around the possible impacts of digital technologies. As a result, ‘engaging employees directly can also be a good solution for managing emerging digital risks’. 

 

You may also be interested in...

Dyson HSE lead photo.jpg

 Dyson lands £1.2m fine after worker escapes more serious injuries

Friday 5th August 2022
Dyson Technologies has been handed a £1.2 million fine after a worker at its Wiltshire site narrowly escaped being crushed by a 1.5 tonne milling machine.
Open-access content
women-working-at-standing-desk_credit_iStock-1198229555.png

 Standing desks contribute to small improvements in workers’ stress and wellbeing, study finds

Thursday 18th August 2022
A randomised control trial has found that office workers who use a standing desk alongside other interventions that encourage them to sit less and move around reduced their sitting time by an hour a day over one year.
Open-access content
web_business-people-in-meeting_credit_iStock-1155692275.jpg

 Disabled workers question employment opportunities despite recruitment drive

Thursday 4th August 2022
Only 40% of disabled workers surveyed (https://www.learningdisabilitytoday.co.uk/two-thirds-of-disabled-workers-think-businesses-should-do-more-to-support-them-into-employment) by a hiring platform believe there are good employment opportunities available to them despite UK government figures showing a twelve-fold increase in ‘Disability Confident’ job adverts
Open-access content
web_safety_credit_iStock-1097673712.jpg

 HSE guide targets designers to eliminate fire risks at pre-construction phase

Friday 5th August 2022
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published the third edition of its free-to-order Fire safety in construction (https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg168.htm) book, which includes an added focus on eliminating or reducing fire risks at the design stage.
Open-access content
rt

 Unite’s FoI requests highlight decline in HSE’s ‘proactive’ construction inspections

Tuesday 9th August 2022
A series of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests made by the trade union Unite (https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2022/august/frightening-drop-in-construction-safety-inspections-exposed/) has highlighted a significant decline in the number of ‘proactive’ inspections that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has made in the construction sector since 2013/14.
Open-access content
web_United-States-flag_credit_iStock-487485528.png

 Penalties mount for vehicle parts maker on OSHA’s ‘severe violator enforcement programme’

Wednesday 10th August 2022
The US Department of Labor has presented an Ohio-based vehicle parts manufacturer on its ‘severe violator enforcement programme’ with a fine of $480,240 (approx. £373,000) after inspectors found it had continually exposed workers to multiple machine hazards
Open-access content

Latest from News

Singh-Will-Mix-It-Ltd-1-768x572.png

 £175k fine after concrete pump caused brain trauma

Monday 27th March 2023
Singh Will Mix It has been convicted of safety failings after a worker was hit in the head by a concrete pump while being operated by an untrained colleague – the firm has since become insolvent.
Open-access content
Web-crane-iStock-527909878.png

 Just six months to register for Building Safety Regulator, HSE warns

Monday 27th March 2023
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is reminding those responsible for the safety of high-rise residential buildings in England have six months from April to register with the new Building Safety Regulator by law.
Open-access content
web-ambulance-iStock-108224197.png

 Welsh ambulance worker who caught Covid from patient died of an industrial disease, concludes coroner

Monday 27th March 2023
A coroner has concluded that an ambulance worker in Wales who caught Covid while attending to an infected patient died from an ‘industrial disease’.
Open-access content

Latest from Wellbeing

gl

 The impact of burnout

Thursday 2nd March 2023
Burnout, moral injury and moral distress are bubbling up in the workplace. But how are these concepts connected?
Open-access content
web_runners-tying-their-shoelaces_credit_NDAB-Creativity_shutterstock_776887771.png

 The Fujitsu way

Monday 30th May 2022
The Japanese digital giant invites its home workers to take an hour a week for a non-work activity to support their safety, health and wellbeing. IOSH magazine spoke to Simon Head CFIOSH, head of international health and safety, about Fujitsu’s people-first approach.
Open-access content
web_exhausted-employee_credit_iStock-1185855281 (1).png

 Call for more support for Long Covid sufferers after disability warning

Friday 20th May 2022
Employment groups have called on employers to work proactively with employees who are suffering from the long-term effects of coronavirus and make reasonable adjustments so individuals can be better supported to stay in or return to work.
Open-access content

Latest from Employee involvement

web_Group-training_credit_iStock-1158885821.png

 Top tips for better health and safety training

Thursday 19th January 2023
Nick Wilson, director of health and safety services at WorkNest, has more than 20 years of training experience, working with individuals from the top to bottom of organisations. Here he explains the steps you can take to improve the effectiveness of training and increased employee engagement when delivering courses.
Open-access content
y

 How to be a problem solver

Wednesday 4th January 2023
We find out what soft skills are needed to overcome – or prevent – OSH issues in the workplace.
Open-access content
web_p22-27_Stakes-and-Ladders_Illustration_CREDIT_Patrick-George.png

 The ups and downs of building a safety culture

Thursday 1st September 2022
Beliefs in and attitudes towards safety underpin OSH culture and, ultimately, performance. How do we build a safety culture and how might it change?
Open-access content

Latest from Work equipment

One of the machine's two interlocks.jpg

 Ineffective control measures on industrial food mixer led to amputation and £858k fine

Thursday 12th January 2023
A Kent-based food production company has been fined £858,000 after a 26-year-old employee had to have his right arm surgically removed following an incident.
Open-access content
Web-iStock-937270176.jpg

 Chipboard manufacturer lands record £2.15m Scottish fine for fatal 90% burns

Tuesday 29th November 2022
Chipboard manufacturer Norbord Europe Limited has been fined £2.15m after a four-week trial held at Perth Sheriff Court in Scotland found that a series of failings at its Cowie site in Stirlingshire in July 2016 had led to an employee’s death.
Open-access content
P1000615.JPG

 Poor planning of floorspace led to worker’s burns death

Thursday 24th November 2022
We spoke to HSE Inspector Rose Leese-Weller about how failures in the earliest stages of planning a catering equipment cleaning facility’s shopfloor ultimately led to a worker fatality.
Open-access content

Latest from Nick Warburton

web-ambulance-iStock-108224197.png

 Welsh ambulance worker who caught Covid from patient died of an industrial disease, concludes coroner

Monday 27th March 2023
A coroner has concluded that an ambulance worker in Wales who caught Covid while attending to an infected patient died from an ‘industrial disease’.
Open-access content
web_Cranes-on-construction-site_credit_iStock-1352083784.jpg

 Risk & Compliance software provider collaborates with HSE and Costain to improve risk management on worksites

Friday 17th March 2023
A Belfast-based Risk & Compliance software provider has been collaborating with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and construction giant Costain as part of an ongoing project to unlock artificial intelligence’s (AI) potential in improving the management of risks on worksites.
Open-access content
yig

 How to mitigate the risks of complex supply chains

Thursday 2nd March 2023
Businesses are often reliant on complex supply chains, which can make them vulnerable to crises. Here’s how OSH professionals can support business continuity.
Open-access content
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Senior Health and Safety Manager

Reading
Up to £65000.00 per annum + Great Car Allowance & Benefits
Reference
5452983

Regional Health and Safety Advisor

Northampton
Up to £53000 per annum + Travel & Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452982

Global Health, Safety and Environment Director

Up to £150000 per annum + Excellent Benefits
Reference
5452980
See all jobs »

Sign up for regular e-alerts

Receive the latest news and features, free to your inbox

Sign up

Subscribe to IOSH magazine

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
IOSH Covers
​
FOLLOW US
Twitter
LinkedIn
YouTube
CONTACT US
Contact us
Tel +44 (0)20 7880 6200
​

IOSH

About IOSH
Become a member
IOSH Events
MyIOSH

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to IOSH magazine
Write for IOSH magazine

IOSH Magazine

Health
Safety
Management
Skills
IOSH Jobs

© 2023 IOSH • IOSH is not responsible for the content of external sites

ioshmagazine.com and IOSH Magazine are published by Redactive Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ