Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee – How can an active and inclusive prevention approach contribute to better health and safety at the workplace – 0 deaths goal? (exploratory opinion requested by the Danish Presidency)
Date: 2025-09-18
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: accident prevention, dissemination of information, humanisation of work, occupational accident, occupational health, occupational mortality, worker participation








C_202600022EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/22


16.1.2026






Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee
How can an active and inclusive prevention approach contribute to better health and safety at the workplace – 0 deaths goal?
(exploratory opinion requested by the Danish Presidency)
(C/2026/22)


Rapporteur: 
Nicoletta MERLO






Advisors


Kris De Meester (to Group I)
Károly György (to the rapporteur)




Referral by the Danish
Presidency of the Council


Letter of 7.2.2025




Legal basis


Article 304 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Exploratory opinion




Section responsible


Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship




Adopted in section


3.9.2025




Adopted at plenary session


18.9.2025




Plenary session No


599




Outcome of vote
(for/against/abstentions)


178/2/4




1.   Conclusions and recommendations









1.1.


The EESC recommends that the EU and the Member States ensure that occupational safety and health (OSH) protection and prevention of OSH risks are ensured for all people at work according to the OSH framework directive, regardless of their employment contract, job title, or training path. This protection includes a minimum and comprehensive standard of physical, mental, and social well-being in the workplace. To ensure effectiveness and relevance, these standards should be complemented by targeted and flexible approaches – such as sectoral or company-level collective agreements, codes of conduct, and bilateral arrangements between the social partners – which take into account the specific risks, structures, and operational realities of different sectors and forms of work, with a view to involving workers and their representatives in accordance with the applicable rules. Furthermore, preventive measures should also take into account all persons present at the workplace, including those indirectly involved in productive activities.












1.2.


The EESC recommends strengthening cooperation and shared responsibility among all stakeholders, particularly the social partners, to ensure effective OSH management. Active involvement of workers’ representatives and the promotion of social dialogue at company level are essential. Inclusive training and, where possible, joint training between employers’ OSH officials and workers’ representatives and knowledge-sharing should equip all of the parties concerned to recognise and manage both traditional and emerging risks, including those linked to digitalisation and new forms of work.












1.3.


The EESC recalls the importance of comprehensive risk assessments that address all physical and psychosocial occupational risks to which workers are exposed. These can be linked to new work models and environmental challenges. Climate-related events such as heatwaves, floods, and hydro-geological disruption should be integrated into OSH strategies aimed at prevention.












1.4.


The EESC takes note of the approach adopted in some Member States, where commuting accidents are recognised – for insurance purposes – as occupational accidents. While definitions and classifications vary across the EU, the EESC underlines the importance of considering appropriate measures at national level, with a view to improving both prevention strategies and the quality and comparability of data collection, and encourages the Commission and the Member States to explore ways of promoting more consistent approaches to commuting accidents.












1.5.


The EESC emphasises that integrating training with work experience is vital for young people’s OSH. Educational institutions should provide general health and safety information/training, while employers should deliver job-specific training, especially during apprenticeships and internships. A culture of safety needs to be promoted to increase employers’ and workers’ awareness of their duty to take care of their own safety and health at work, as well as of that of others impacted by their acts or omissions at work. Furthermore, it is necessary to ensure that a gender-sensitive approach is adopted in training and workplace practices in order to implement inclusive and tailored preventive measures, addressing the specific and different risks faced by men and women.












1.6.


The EESC recommends adapting OSH policies to demographic trends, with particular attention given to the ageing workforce, as ensuring safe and healthy working conditions for all age groups helps maintain employability, supports active ageing, and strengthens the connection between occupational and public health. In this regard, the EESC highlights the importance of the ongoing work in the Advisory Committee for Safety and Health at Work (ACSH) on recognising new occupational diseases.












1.7.


The EESC recommends regular assessment of the implementation of the EU OSH acquis and, where appropriate, its evidence-based updating to reflect evolving work patterns. Achieving the Vision Zero goal requires a balanced approach combining guidance, legislation and its implementation, and where needed adaptation to new forms of work, with the ultimate aim of bolstering health and safety in all workplaces.












1.8.


The EESC stresses the importance of stepping up compliance and enforcement of existing OSH rules as a key step towards achieving the Zero Deaths goal. This requires adequate resources and quality staffing for labour inspectorates, as well as an appropriate and well-functioning legal framework in line with the ILO Guidelines on labour inspection. Trade unions and employers’ organisations should also be supported in their role of monitoring and disseminating good practices in workplace OSH and of identifying risks before they lead to accidents.












1.9.


The EESC recommends the responsible use of AI systems for prevention, risk monitoring, and the personalisation of preventive measures. It is essential to ensure transparency, data confidentiality and integrity, and to address potential biases. To this end, it is essential to strengthen skills for the informed use of AI, including in the workplace.




2.   General comments









2.1.


The EESC welcomes the Danish presidency’s focus on occupational safety and health (OSH) and the request for an EESC exploratory opinion on how to foster active and inclusive prevention strategies ‘to ensure safer and healthier long-term workplaces – including by exploring good national practices and policies – in order to live up to the zero deaths EU goal’.












2.2.


The Eurofound European Industrial Relations Dictionary underlines that health and safety, in the European Union context, goes beyond the avoidance of accidents and prevention of disease to include all aspects of a worker’s well-being. The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) share the same definition of health and safety at work. According to this definition, health and safety regulations are aimed at the promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of workers in all occupations. In short, health and safety promotes ‘the adaptation of work to the person and of each person to their job’ (1).












2.3.


This broad perspective necessitates collaboration across multiple disciplines (2). Therefore, OSH should concentrate on the direct relationship between workplace hazards and outcomes such as injuries and occupational diseases, including evolving work environments and new occupational risks. Increased awareness of external factors beyond work and OSH – such as chronic diseases, socio-economic conditions and pandemics – which require a multidisciplinary approach and need to be assessed, is also needed. The link between work and lifestyle is particularly significant: healthy lifestyle choices (such as physical activity, paying attention to what you eat and drink, etc.) undoubtedly have positive consequences on work and vice versa (being satisfied at work has positive repercussions on private life). This comprehensive approach integrates traditional risk assessments with an understanding of how work and non-work factors interact and evolve throughout a person’s career, ultimately supporting the broader well-being of workers (3).












2.4.


At EU level, the objective of the Framework Directive on OSH (4) is to introduce measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. To that end, the Directive contains general principles concerning the prevention of occupational risks, the protection of safety and health, the elimination of risk and accident factors, the informing, consultation, and balanced participation of workers (in accordance with national laws and/or practices) and the training of workers and their representatives, as well as general guidelines for the implementation of the said principles (5). Moreover, the Framework Directive is applicable to all sectors of activity, both public and private, and companies have the legal responsibility to ensure that workers and people at the workplace remain safe at all times. In the case of subcontracting, the workers of subcontractors are covered by OSH through their employment relationship with their employer, and Article 6(4) of the directive includes provisions on cooperation between employers when several undertakings share a workplace. In addition, principle 10 of the European Pillar of Social Rights states that ‘Workers have the right to a high level of protection of their health and safety at work’.




3.   Specific comments









3.1.


In 2022, there were 2.97 million non-fatal accidents that resulted in at least four calendar days of absence from work and 3 286 fatal accidents in the EU, a ratio of approximately 905 non-fatal accidents for every fatal accident. During 2022, three in ten (29,9 %) non-fatal accidents at work in the EU took place on industrial sites. During 2022, more than a quarter (27,4 %) of fatal accidents at work in the EU resulted from losing control of a machine, tool or transport/handling equipment. The most common types of non-fatal accidents at work in the EU resulted from physical or mental stress (22,4 %) or impact with a stationary object (21,6 %) (6).












3.2.


Protection in OSH and prevention of risks within the scope of the OSH Framework Directive encompasses all forms of employment, irrespective of employment contract, job title, or training arrangements, ensuring that every worker benefits from a baseline of safety and health standards and standards that contribute to their social, mental and physical well-being (i.e. the ‘whole person’). At the same time, this protection can be balanced with tailored approaches, such as bilateral agreements between the social partners, including at the sectoral and company level, and codes of conduct, that address the specific needs of different sectors, organisations, and risk profiles, with a view to involving workers and their representatives in line with applicable rules. In the light of Vision Zero, the aim should be an inclusive approach taking into account all people present at the workplace.












3.3.


The ILO guidelines (7) emphasise the importance of developing both national and customised guidelines for OSH management systems to reflect the diverse conditions and requirements found across workplaces, including considerations for organisation size and the nature of activities, in which workers and trade unions are involved. The Polish example, where social labour inspectors have had a supporting and complementing role since the 1950s (8), has proved to be successful in prevention.












3.4.


The Italian experience of implementing anti-pandemic protocols represents a good practice as it demonstrated that universal rules can be effectively adapted to the unique circumstances of individual workplaces through collective bargaining and joint committees, illustrating the value of social dialogue and the importance of combining broad protection with case-specific measures.












3.5.


Cooperation and shared responsibility among all stakeholders, particularly the social partners, and ensuring effective social dialogue in the field of OSH at work and the involvement of workers’ representatives in health and safety matters in line with the applicable rules is fundamental to effective OSH management. Employers have a duty to ensure workplace safety in line with the EU and national legislation/collective agreements, but addressing OSH risks, especially the new and evolving ones, such as those arising from technological transformation and climate change, requires co-responsibility from public authorities, inspectorates, trade unions and workers themselves. Empowering all key actors through knowledge-sharing, best practices, fostering the active involvement of workers’ representatives at company level and training is essential: workers, employers, and public institutions must be actively involved in both prevention and participation efforts. The effective involvement of workers’ safety representatives and the establishment of OSH committees, where the national industrial relations system concerned provides for this, have proven helpful in facilitating active cooperation between employers and workers to establish a safe and healthy working environment.












3.6.


In addition, training initiatives should be inclusive and, where possible, involve both company representatives and employee representatives, ensuring that all parties are equipped to recognise and manage emerging risks, including those linked to digitalisation and changing work environments. In Denmark, partially government-funded branch collaborations for OSH (BFAs) in workplaces, composed of employer and worker representatives, promote concrete initiatives in the workplace, offering advice and practical tools to improve health and safety based on sector- and workplace-based needs.












3.7.


Addressing new work models and environments requires risk assessments and a comprehensive approach to both physical and psychosocial risks. For example, exposure to carcinogens remains a significant concern, with the 2016 Roadmap on Carcinogens (9) estimating approximately 120 000 work-related cancer cases annually in the EU. There is also a pressing need to systematically address occupational illnesses, including those arising from work-related psychosocial risks (PSR) and musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), and to further develop an EU-wide list of recognised occupational diseases. Modern tools – such as the OIRA (10) – should be further enhanced especially in the MSME sectors. The discussions on these policy challenges are taken up by the ACSH on a continuous basis.












3.8.


Remote work, whether from home, co-working spaces, or abroad, adds new dimensions to ensuring workers’ OSH. Current estimates suggest that about 12,3 % of the EU workforce works remotely, while the latest estimates suggest a steady increase, with up to 15 % of the workforce potentially working remotely by 2025 (11). As work environments merge with public spaces and homes, highlighting the fact that new forms of work including teleworking may pose new challenges to OSH both from the employer and the worker perspective (e.g. employers’ access, data protection) it is necessary to explore the necessity of adapting OSH policies to the new realities of remote work, taking into account national practices and respecting the role and autonomy of social partners. In Member States where – according to the Eurofound study (12) - right to disconnect policies have been put in place, data show that they have a positive effect on work-life balance, health and well-being, and overall job satisfaction.












3.9.


The link between OSH and environmental issues, such as climate change and hydro-geological risks, is increasingly relevant, and can expose workers to new hazards at work, including work-related illness, injury and psychological and physical stress; they may therefore require an integrated risk assessment and the adoption of preventive measures.












3.10.


Accidents occurring on the way to and from work are not consistently classified as occupational accidents across all Member States. However, it is important to consider appropriate approaches to them in the Member States, including for preventive purposes and to improve the quality and comparability of data collection. The EU Road Safety ‘Vision Zero’ concept may also be helpful in realising OSH aims (13).












3.11.


With regard to on-the-job training programmes for young people, such as apprenticeships and internships, OSH training should be a shared responsibility between educational institutions and employers: schools should be responsible for general health and safety information/training, while companies should provide job-specific training.. Promoting a culture of safety as a core value from the very beginning of a career journey helps ensure that all young workers are equipped to identify and manage workplace risks. The culture of safety should result in increased employers’ and workers’ awareness of their duty to take care of their safety and health at work, as well as of that of others impacted by their acts or omissions at work. In addition, a gender-sensitive approach should be mainstreamed into both training and workplace practice, recognising that men and women may face different occupational risks and require tailored preventive measures, in order to ensure that OSH systems are inclusive and effective for all workers, regardless of gender.












3.12.


Adapting OSH to workforce demographics, particularly the ageing workforce, is essential for ensuring a healthy working life and effectively linking work-related health with broader public health issues. Pension reforms and longer working lives require a rethinking of job content and the conditions that enable older workers to remain active and healthy in employment. Preventive OSH efforts need to take account of these demographic shifts, focusing on a life-course approach that emphasises prevention, risk assessment based on work ability rather than age, as well as workplace adjustments to accommodate individual needs and reskilling.












3.13.


As work organisation and employment forms evolve rapidly, it is essential to regularly evaluate the implementation of the EU OSH acquis as set out in the directives to ensure its continued relevance and effectiveness. This includes assessing the validity of existing regulations and considering introducing new, evidence-based measures when needed. Particular attention should be given to emerging work patterns. All these efforts should contribute to the overarching goal of enhancing health and safety in the workplace.












3.14.


Ensuring control, compliance with and enforcement of existing OSH regulations is another important step towards the zero deaths goal. This includes the provision of sufficient resources and quality staffing for labour inspectorates together with an appropriate and well-functioning legal framework. Additionally trade unions and employers’ organisations can play a role in monitoring and disseminating good practices in OSH.












3.15.


In order to analyse and prevent accidents at work, several good practices have been identified which can be shared and promoted, including:






—


the recording and analysis of near misses (14) (including through the collection of reliable data to enable evidence-based policy-making);










—


monitoring the reasons for absenteeism, and the company climate (15);










—


increasing the level of active involvement and ensuring that workers and their representatives take up their duties in the field of OSH (16);










—


the presence of joint OSH committees at company level with the participation of both managers and elected workers’ representatives (17), where provided for by national rules;










—


appropriate training of the various parties (18) (different actors in the company: employer, managers, supervisors; technical profiles: heads of prevention and protection services and occupational doctors; as well as workers and their representatives), including in the form of official certification for training in OSH, and through joint training sessions and short training breaks in the workplace;










—


the use of AI systems for prevention and for monitoring risks and personalising prevention (19). AI can indeed contribute significantly to the identification of risks and the resulting prevention and protection measures, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of work. However, it is essential to ensure transparency, data confidentiality and integrity, considering the potential biases in line with applicable legislation. To this end, it is essential to strengthen skills for the conscious use of AI in the workplace. On this point, we also refer to opinion SOC/818, paragraph 2.5;










—


liaison with supervisory and control bodies (20). In this regard, the Polish system of ‘social inspectors’ is a successful example for the involvement of workers’ representatives in the prevention work, by supporting the state inspectorate; and










—


the collection and dissemination of data related to OSH at EU and national level, including on a sector-by-sector basis.










Brussels, 18 September 2025.


The President


of the European Economic and Social Committee

Oliver RÖPKE
               





(1)  Eurofound https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/all/european-industrial-relations-dictionary-info-sheet.

(2)  Including occupational medicine, public health, industrial engineering, ergonomics, chemistry, and psychology.

(3)  See the EU-OSHA web page.

(4)  
            Council Directive 89/391/EEC.

(5)  Article 5 of the Directive states that ‘The employer shall have the duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work.’, and, although the Directive also establishes obligations for workers (Article 13), Article 5 clarifies that ‘The workers’ obligations in the field of safety and health at work shall not affect the principle of the responsibility of the employer.’
         

(6)  See Eurostat.

(7)  
            Guidelines.

(8)  
            ILO page on Poland.

(9)  A sustained initiative since 2016 carried over by Council Presidencies.

(10)  
            OiRA.

(11)  R. Watrisse, The Evolution of Remote Work in Europe: 2024 and Beyond.

(12)  Eurofound, Right to disconnect: Implementation and impact at company level.

(13)  European Commission, EU Road Safety: Towards ‘Vision Zero’.

(14)  
            Safety matters weekly; Türk Loydu; Draeger; Vatix.

(15)  
            Diversio; Number analytics; IceHrm; Access.

(16)  EU-OSHA, 'Leadership and worker participation'.

(17)  EU-OSHA report on Worker representation and consultation on health and safety; Work Safe BC; SFM; EcoOnline.

(18)  
            TrainingMag.

(19)  EU-OSHA, Artificial intelligence for worker management.

(20)  ILO, How can occupational safety and health be managed?



ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/22/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)