The results of the survey — which collected responses from almost 50,000 workplaces in 36 countries, including all 28 Member States — give a detailed insight into how occupational safety and health (OSH) risks are managed in Europe’s workplaces. With results easily accessible through an online dashboard, this survey represents an important new resource for policymakers, researchers and practitioners.

The aim of ESENER-2 is to find out how health and safety — and particularly new and emerging risks, such as psychosocial risks — are actually managed in practice in organisations of all sizes, including micro enterprises of 5 to 10 employees. Survey questions were addressed to the person in the organisation who knew most about OSH. Respondents identified the major risk factors in their organisation and described how they manage them. Importantly, they also reported on the reasons why they manage risks — and the main difficulties that deter them from assessing workplace risks at all.

– The ESENER-2 survey provides a comprehensive picture of how health and safety is actually managed in European workplaces. The results are highly relevant to policymakers at national and EU level as they clearly document that there is plenty of room for improvements in the area of health and safety at work, commented MEP Ole Christensen, European Parliament rapporteur on the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020.

The most commonly reported risk factor is having to deal with difficult customers, patients, pupils and so on (58 percent of establishments in the EU-28), which in part reflects the continued growth of the service sector. Factors leading to musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), such as tiring or painful positions and repetitive hand or arm movements, are reported very frequently across all activity sectors.

The results indicate that 76 percent of establishments in the EU-28 carry out regular risk assessments, and of those 90 percent consider them a useful way of managing safety and health. There are significant differences at national level in the proportion of enterprises carrying out risk assessments with internal staff compared with external providers. The use of internal staff ranges from 76 percent in Denmark to 7 percent in Slovenia. While the size of the establishment has a strong influence, in some countries even most of the smallest establishments generally carry out risk assessments with internal staff.

– Among those establishments that do not carry out regular risk assessments, the main reasons given for this are that risks and hazards are already known (83 percent) and that there are no major problems (80 percent). Psychosocial risks are perceived as more challenging than others. Almost one in five of the establishments that report having to deal with difficult customers or experiencing time pressure also indicate that they lack information or adequate tools to deal with the risk effectively, remarked EU-OSHA’s Director Christa Sedlatschek.

Another key finding refers to how a high level of employee participation (whether formal or informal) is a strong indicator of good quality of work, including the quality of OSH management in general and psychosocial risk management in particular.

The current legal framework on OSH dates back to 1989, with the adoption of the European Framework Directive on Safety and Health at Work (Directive 89/391 EEC), and as in the previous edition of ESENER, meeting legal obligations was the most frequently cited reason for managing OSH (85 percent of establishments in the EU-28), with meeting the expectations of employees and their representatives (79 percent) and avoiding fines from the labour inspectorate (78 percent) also mentioned by a high proportion of respondents. ESENER-2 also gives an insight into whether businesses perceive safety and health management as a burden, which is highly relevant for ongoing programmes such as REFIT (= European Commission's Regulatory Fitness and Performance programme) When asked whether the complexity of legal OSH obligations are considered to be an obstacle to health and safety management, the results varied from 67 percent in Italy to 14 percent in Lithuania. As all EU Member States are subject to the same legislation at EU level, these figures highlight the different situations encountered at national level and point to the importance of national legislation, support structures and other resources.

Links: Read a summary of the ESENER-2 findings (25 EU languages)