International experts present their views on the future working environment
15-12-2009
An ageing workforce, increasing migration,
unhealthy lifestyle among young people, poor mental health and
musculoskeletal disorders are just some of the future OSH challenges. The
issues were brought forward by a number of experienced OSH experts,
primarily from the European institutions under PEROSH (Partnership for
European Research in Occupational Safety and Health), who were invited to
an expert seminar to present their scientific views on the future working
environment. Today, the Danish Working Environment Authority and PEROSH
publish the scientific views from the seminar in a report and on
videos.
A total of 14 international experts were
invited to the National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NRCWE)
in September 2009
At the request of the Danish Working Environment Authority, PEROSH for the
first time held an international expert seminar about the future working
environment. The seminar was organised by the NRCWE and financed by the
Danish Working Environment Authority, and was held on September 24 – 25,
2009.
Chairman of PEROSH and Director General of the NRCWE, Palle Ørbæk,
states:
“During 2009, the Danish Working Environment Authority has tried to
form the basis for a Danish working environment strategy 2011-2020. The
NRCWE has contributed to the process with research based knowledge and
analyses, and thus contributed to qualify the views on future OSH
challenges. It was therefore more than obvious to make use of the
considerable expertise we are in position of through our European
collaboration, PEROSH, which has international and national counselling as
one of its primary goals”.
OSH effort challenges
A total of 14 experts from ten countries, the European Agency for Safety
and Health at Work (Bilbao) and the European Foundation for the Improvement
of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin) presented their views on the
future OSH challenges. The experts also discussed the challenges in a
prioritization of the efforts and in an efficient communication of the
importance of investing in healthy working environment and working
environment research. Among the most important challenges within prevention
of the future OSH problems, the experts summarized the following:
-
Demographic changes due to an ageing workforce and increasing
migration.
-
Consequences of globalisation of OSH in terms of work intensification.
-
Unhealthy lifestyle among young people today will lead to health
problems in the future workforce.
-
Influence of mental health on workability.
-
Musculoskeletal disorders including relations between mental health and
musculoskeletal disorders.
-
New technologies including biotechnology, IT, and automation which may
influence the working environment.
OSH challenges
At the international expert seminar, the 14 expert presentations and the
subsequent panel discussion resulted in qualified views on OSH challenges.
The experts emphasized the following:
-
A scientifically based assessment of the effect of efforts to improve
the working environment.
-
A systematic and critical survey of existing knowledge of the working
environment.
-
Research into the relationship between working/private life and
wellbeing through a whole working life.
-
Focus on particularly exposed groups such as chronically ill, young,
elderly and immigrants.
-
Focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.
-
Research into the economic aspects of safety and health at the
workplace.
Read the English report and see the expert presentations from the
seminar on video
The report ‘Seminar proceedings, Working Environment Challenges for the
Future’ contains 11 expert views and a Danish and English summary. The
report, presentations and videos of the presentations as well as PowerPoint
presentations can be downloaded on the homepage
of PEROSH.
Further information: Contact
Head of the Management Secretariat, Per Jakobsen, NRCWE.
