
Health and well-being at work
15 October 2019
Promoting high standards in working conditions, including in the area of health and well-being at work, is a key priority for the EU. The EU Directive on measures to improve safety and health at work seeks to protect workers in their place of work and promote workers’ rights in this area.
The European Commission’s Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014–2020 identifies important challenges and objectives for Member States. This includes improvements to health and safety rules, prevention of occupational diseases and issues relating to the ageing workforce.
In November 2017, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission formally proclaimed the European Pillar of Social Rights, which reflects a joint commitment to providing a healthy, safe and well-adapted work environment for workers in the EU. It includes provisions on protection of workers’ health and safety at work, as well as adapting the working environment to enable longer participation in the labour market.
- EUR-Lex: Council Directive 89/391/EEC on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work
- European Commission: EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014–2020
- European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights in 20 principles
- European Commission: Health and safety at work
Eurofound’s work
Featured - Burnout in the workplace: A review of data and policy responses in the EU
10 September 2018 - This report looks at the extent of burnout experienced by workers in the EU, based on national research. As a starting point, the report sets out to consider whether burnout is viewed as a medical or occupational disease. It then examines the work determinants associated with burnout and looks at the effects of burnout, including psychosocial and physical work factors, work intensity and work organisation.
Burnout in the workplace: A review of data and policy responses in the EU
Eurofound has been analysing occupational health and safety since the 1990s and recognises that health issues are a central part of an organisation’s structure and development, for workers and employers alike. Analysis of survey data has been carried out to investigate the links between working conditions and health and safety. This is done in close consultation with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Eurofound has a cooperation agreement with EU-OSHA which sets out opportunities for joint activities in this area and for further forms of exchange.
Key contributions
Survey data
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) is a prime source of information on job quality and its correlation with the health and well-being of different groups of workers. Based on data from the EWCS 2015, the sixth edition of the survey, Eurofound will investigate the associations between working conditions and the physical and mental health of workers and absenteeism and presenteeism, in collaboration with EU-OSHA. A report based on the fifth EWCS 2010 focuses specifically on health and well-being at work. It looks at work-related stress and the psychosocial work environment in relation to health conditions like musculoskeletal diseases and mental health. It also explores quality of work and job security and their links with well-being.
Health and mental health are important components associated with a person’s quality of life and longevity, as well as their ability to work. The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) covers subjective well-being, health and access to healthcare, and aspects of individual quality of life including work–life balance and care responsibilities. It investigates the links between having to work while also having care responsibilities and the resulting impact on well-being.
The European Company Survey (ECS) examines the associations between workplace well-being and establishment performance, including absenteeism and its cost to the economy. It looks at practices to improve occupational health and safety and the influence of employee representatives. In the ECS 2013, employee representatives reported having the greatest influence on company decisions regarding occupational health and safety.
Work-related health outcomes
New information and communications technologies have revolutionised work and life in the 21st century. A joint report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and Eurofound considers the effects of telework and ICT-mobile work (T/ICTM) on workers in the EU. Although there are advantages to this way of working, it is also associated with longer working hours, interference between work and personal life and work intensification. This can lead to high levels of stress with negative consequences for workers’ health and well-being.
Research has explored issues around making work sustainable over the life course. To achieve this requires devising new solutions for working conditions and career paths that help workers to retain their physical and mental health, motivation and productivity over an extended working life.
Again, in a joint report with EU-OSHA, research examined the prevalence of psychosocial risks among workers in Europe and the associations between these risks and health and well-being. It also reviewed where action is taken to prevent such risks and described possible interventions for companies.
Role of social dialogue
Eurofound’s study on the impact of the crisis on industrial relations and working conditions looks at the impact on working time arrangements and work–life balance, on work organisation and psychosocial risks, and on health and well-being at work. The annual review of working life from Eurofound’s European Observatory of Working Life also documents the national social dialogue debates centred around health and safety at work in the EU.
An earlier report on the role of governments and social partners in keeping older workers in the labour market looks at initiatives and measures introduced to improve working conditions and to enhance the health and work environment of workers, in order to encourage workers to stay in the workplace for longer.
Other research topics
Other studies have been carried out on violence and harassment at work, absence from work, use of alcohol and drugs at the workplace, work-related stress, and the employment situations of young people with health problems and disabilities and people with chronic diseases.
European Working Conditions Survey 2015
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2015, the sixth edition of the survey, builds on the lessons learned from the previous five surveys to paint a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. Workers were asked a range of questions concerning employment status, work organisation, learning and training, working time duration and organisation, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, as well as work and health. The analysis explores the findings using seven indices of job quality – physical environment, work intensity, working time quality, social environment, skills and discretion, prospects and earnings – and categorises workers into five typical job quality profiles.
Data and resources
- Data visualisation: European Working Conditions Survey 2015 - Full survey data
- Data visualisation: European Quality of Life Survey 2016 - Full survey data
- Data visualisation: European Quality of Life Survey 2016 - Explore and compare country data
- European Industrial Relations Dictionary entries: Health and safety, Health and safety personnel, Framework Directive on health and safety, Night work, Noise, Occupational accidents and diseases, Protective equipment, Risk assessment, Strategic framework on health and safety at work, Working environment, Working time
Highlights (13)
- How to respond to chronic health problems in the workplace?
- Working conditions and workers' health
- Does employment status matter for job quality?
- ERM report 2018: Impact of restructuring on working conditions
- Annual review of working life 2017
- Burnout in the workplace: A review of data and policy responses in the EU
- European Quality of Life Survey 2016
- Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work
All (729)
- Just one in three workers with limiting chronic disease in adapted workplace
- How to respond to chronic health problems in the workplace?
- High-level conference on the economy of well-being
- Crisis point: Well-being of young people still defined by the economic crisis
- Inequalities in the access of young people to information and support services
- Workers in Europe in good health, but emotional demands take their toll
- Working conditions and workers' health
- Restructuring: We need to make sure those that stay behind are not forgotten
Publications (109)
- How to respond to chronic health problems in the workplace?
- Inequalities in the access of young people to information and support services
- Working conditions and workers' health
- Restructuring: We need to make sure those that stay behind are not forgotten
- We need to boost motivation at work to ease Europe’s demographic headache
- Does employment status matter for job quality?
- ERM report 2018: Impact of restructuring on working conditions
- Annual review of working life 2017
Articles (597)
- Norway: latest working life developments Q2 2018
- Germany: Study reveals huge gap between collectively agreed and usual weekly working time
- Portugal: Musculoskeletal disorders identified as main risk factor in companies
- Slovakia: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017
- Norway: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017
- Luxembourg: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017
- Malta: Government rejects employers' proposal to make first day of sick leave unpaid
- Slovakia: Positive trend in number of occupational accidents
News (14)
- Just one in three workers with limiting chronic disease in adapted workplace
- Crisis point: Well-being of young people still defined by the economic crisis
- Workers in Europe in good health, but emotional demands take their toll
- World Mental Health Day: Common approach to burnout still lacking
- Europe’s frayed ends: Understanding the challenges of 21st century burnout
- Four out of five workers in Europe happy with working time ‘fit’
- World Day for Safety and Health at Work
- ‘Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work’ - new report highlights opportunities and challenges of expanding telework
Events (9)
- High-level conference on the economy of well-being
- Conference on Health and Safety at Work
- ICOH 2018 - 32nd International Congress on Occupational Health
- Tripartite conference on OHS - Safeguarding vulnerable groups
- ILO-Eurofound joint launch of report on 'Working anytime, anywhere: The effects on the world of work'
- Changing working conditions in Europe: Moving towards better work: Overview report of Eurofound's sixth European Working Conditions Survey
- EULAR Conference - Reducing the burden of chronic diseases in the workplace: New policies for better working conditions and the retention of ill people at work
- Workplace innovation – Sustainable work: Retaining Europe’s ageing workforce and making work more sustainable throughout the life course