The EU’s occupational health and safety (OSH) framework, established since the 1980s, ensures a high level of worker protection across all Member States. EU legislation, policies and targeted campaigns have a significant impact in this regard, as they ensure a minimum level of protection for workers throughout the EU – while Member States are allowed to maintain or establish more stringent measures and establish key principles and mechanisms for employers and workers to ensure safe and healthy workplaces.
The competence of the EU in this field is anchored in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 153 of the TFEU gives the European co-legislators the authority to adopt legislation to support and complement the activities of Member States. The occupational safety and health Framework Directive (Directive 89/391/EEC) sets out general principles to improve worker safety, complemented by individual directives addressing specific risks and working conditions. A high level of protection of workers’ health and safety at work has become a key principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Milieu’s track record in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) includes several leading studies carried out on behalf of a variety of European institutions, in particular several projects on the evaluation of the OSH legislation and policy documents for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).
Milieu is leading a review of the practical implementation of the EU’s OSH directives for the period 2018-2022. It involves mapping the implementation of the directives in the Member States, reviewing the developments since the last review, and assessing the current and future relevance of the directives in light of the latest scientific insights and identifying potential improvements. Milieu aims to deliver actionable recommendations to enhance the functioning of the directives and workplace safety across Europe, through comprehensive research, quantitative and qualitative analyses, and stakeholder consultations across all 27 EU Member States,
In June 2014, the European Commission adopted the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work for 2014-2020, setting key objectives to address OSH challenges across the EU. In the framework of the evaluation of the Strategic Framework, Milieu reviewed the framework’s impact by gathering national-level data from all 27 EU Member States and the UK, mapping policies and consulting OSH stakeholders. The study team also analysed the national implementation reports submitted by the national authorities on the implementation of the OSH directives from 2013-2017. Its findings supported DG EMPL’s evaluation of the OSH Strategic Framework and the preparation of the next EU OSH strategy 2021-2027.
Milieu also supported DG EMPL’s first evaluation of 24 EU OSH directives as part of the European Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme (REFIT). Covering 2007-2012, the evaluation assessed the directives’ relevance, effectiveness and coherence, while identifying areas for improvement in their functioning. Within the consortium carrying out the evaluation, Milieu led the mapping of the national implementation of the OSH directives across the EU and contributed to the evaluation by analysing the coherence of the EU OSH acquis and developing recommendations.
Milieu has provided several studies for the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) including a study on digital platform work and a study on advanced robotics and AI-based systems for automation of tasks and occupational safety and health.
The latter study provided an overview of policies, research and practices in relation to advanced robotics and AI-based systems for the automation of physical and cognitive tasks and assessed their implications for OSH. The project focused on two types of AI-based systems:
- AI-based systems for the automation of cognitive tasks, such as systems using machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), or knowledge-based systems;
- Physical task automation systems like intelligent cobots.
It examined how these technologies impact workers’ safety and health, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges they present to OSH prevention, policy and practice. The project involved an analysis of scientific literature, available data, a review of existing policies and initiatives, and field research at workplaces. Recommendations for policy, research and practice to support decision-making were made.
Milieu provided the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs in the frame of a study published in March 2022, with an analysis of the EU OSH legislation’s capacity which examines how the COVID-19 pandemic exposed gaps in the current EU OSH framework. The study also analysed how the COVID-19 pandemic affected workers, in general and also by sector and workplaces. It highlighted direct biological risks, as well as indirect risks related to teleworking (such as musculoskeletal or psychological risks) or to work organisation (digitalisation, new ways of working, etc.). Milieu’s researchers also looked at the measures taken in the Member States to ensure the health and safety of workers, and analysed the extent to which EU legislation (such as Directive 2000/53/EC on biological agents at work and the OSH Framework Directive) were fit and effective in the new circumstances.