As one of the official partners of EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2023-2025, the Federation of European Ergonomics Societies (FEES) applauds the latest EU-OSHA insight: “Smart digital systems for all: Supporting inclusion and diversity in workplace safety and health.”
Smart digital systems are not just about new technology — they are about inclusive design, usability, and human factors. According to EU-OSHA, these systems can be transformational in making workplaces safer, healthier, and more accessible, especially for older workers, migrant workers, pregnant workers, and others whose needs have often been overlooked.
From a human factors and ergonomics (E/HF) standpoint, these are the key contributions:
- User-centred design: Smart wearables, sensors, and adaptive systems must respond to human variability – body size, mobility, cognitive load, language, and cultural background.
- Reducing ergonomic risk: These systems can monitor posture, fatigue, and environmental stressors and help prevent musculoskeletal injuries.
- Enhancing accessibility and diversity: When inclusivity is built in—considering older workers, pregnant staff, those with reduced mobility or sensory differences—the digital workplace becomes equitable.
But smart systems are effective only if implemented with respect to some human factors principles:
- Worker involvement & acceptance: Involving workers and their representatives in design, deployment, and ongoing feedback builds trust, improves usability, and shapes systems that fit actual work practices.
- Transparency and data ethics: Clear communication on data collection, storage, privacy, and how the system will be used ensures psychological safety and reduces resistance.
- Complementarity to traditional OSH and ergonomics measures: These digital tools should augment—not replace—ergonomic workstation design, training, and organisational safety culture.
FEES encourages ergonomists, occupational health professionals, policy-makers, employers, and researchers to draw on EU-OSHA’s resources to guide inclusive implementations.
Together, we can ensure digital transformation in OSH reflects human factors and ergonomics values: promoting safety, well-being, inclusion, and dignity for every worker.
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