– At a time when there are important discussions going on about the future landscape of occupational safety and health in the EU, this campaign is extremely relevant. We need to start now to cater for the needs of Europe’s future workplaces and workers. Workplaces that address the health challenges of an ageing workforce gain in productivity. This is good for workers and good for business, Commissioner Marianne Thyssen highlights.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands’ Presidency representative, Lodewijk Asscher, emphasizes the need to make the European labour market more sustainable for the future.

–We need to stimulate employers and workers to invest in employability. After all, using the power of people will always get the best result. It energises people no matter what age. Here, the cradle to the grave concept certainly applies. The sooner you start, the longer you stay healthy and vital, and the better you can cope with change.

Christa Sedlatschek, Director of EU-OSHA, underlined the business case for this campaign topic: By focusing on sustainable working throughout working life, not only can all workers better protect their health, but companies are likely to see major benefits too. Healthy workers are productive workers, and productive workers are essential to any effective organisation: it’s a win–win situation.

This campaign’s objectives are four-fold:

•             to promote sustainable work and healthy ageing from the beginning of working life;

•             to highlight the importance of risk prevention throughout working life;

•             to assist employers and workers (including in small and medium-sized enterprises) by providing information and tools for managing occupational safety and health in the context of an ageing workforce;

•             to facilitate information and good practice exchange.

This campaign topic is based on a European Parliament project conducted by EU-OSHA, ‘Safer and healthier work at any age’, along with various other EU-OSHA reports on safety and health in the context of the ageing workforce.

 For more information: https://osha.europa.eu/en