Title: NEW CHALLENGES FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH IN TIMES OF THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN EUROPE: THE ROLE OF DIGITAL LABOUR PLATFORMS
Funder: Economic and Social Research Council

Abstract: Platform work has the potential to be the most 'disruptive' labour market phenomenon of the past decades. Its share of the total labour market is still modest according to recent estimates (but platform-like work arrangements are steadily expanding. Whilst studies of platform work now proliferate such as investigating its extent, business models, quality of work and worker characteristics, etc., the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) implications of platform work have remained unexplored. However, there are good reasons to assume that OSH policy and practise is also being disrupted within platform work. This disruption challenges the ambitions of the SDG8 of having decent work and the EU pillar of social rights: fair working conditions and equal opportunities as well as access to the labour market. Consequently, ensuring that platform work provides a safe and healthy work environment is essential. This proposed project wants to fill this gap in research and therefore aims to: (i) investigate the OSH risks and regulations of platform work and (ii) provide recommendations to foster a safe and healthy occupational environment for platform workers in Europe and beyond. Using a mixed-method approach, we address the following research questions (RQ): RQ1. In which ways are different forms of platform work (online and on-location) associated with OSH risks and poor health? What are the main short- and medium-term OSH risks and health outcomes reported in the main forms of platform work? RQ2. How do platform workers experience OSH aspects of their jobs? Do these experiences differ across different forms of platform work? How do these experiences change over time? RQ3. How do platform workers from different forms of platform work experience their OSH in different European countries? What are the similarities and differences in these experiences across European countries? RQ4. How do platform work managers perceive the OSH of employees/workers in different forms of platform work and European countries? RQ5. What are the characteristics of platforms that maintain a healthy work environment (across different European countries) and how can other platforms learn from them? RQ6. What are the regulatory contexts and challenges in terms of OSH posed by different forms of platform work? Which are the similarities and differences across countries?

Lay abstract: Many studies nowadays focus on taking stock of the platform economy in Europe (e.g., investigating its magnitude, business models, career and job characteristics of workers, ...), surprisingly the occupational safety and health (OSH) implications of platform work have remained largely under the radar. Against this background, the proposed project aims to (i) investigate the OSH risks and regulations of platform work and (ii) provide recommendations to foster a safe and healthy occupational environment for platform workers in European countries based on the results of this study. Pursuing these aims, the project adopts a mixed-method study design organised into two work packages (WP) and involves platform workers living in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. WP1 will consist in a European mixed-method cohort of platform workers. WP1 will explore longitudinally ways in which platform work is associated with OSH-risks and poor health and the experiences of platform workers in regard to OSH of their jobs. WP2 aims to research ways for promoting changes for safer and healthier occupational environments for platform work. For doing so, WP2 will explore how do platform work managers perceive the OSH of employees/workers, what are the characteristics of platforms that maintain a healthy work environment and what are the regulatory contexts and challenges in terms of OSH posed by platform of work. Both WPs will explore similarities and differences across countries and forms of platform work, thereby contextualising the findings about health and platform work within different regulatory environments. The expected results of this project will provide new and original scientific understanding of an understudied and evolving challenge for the future world of work. Drawing on the new scientific understanding, the project will provide new guidance for policymakers, companies and trade unions to protect the health of the European workforce.

Research activity codes: 1.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC PROCESSES
Health categories: GENERIC HEALTH RELEVANCE