Category: Review

Musculoskeletal health promotion starts at school

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According to EU-OSHA, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in children and young people and young workers are worryingly high. Involving schools in occupational safety and health issues can help prevent this. Integrating safety and health in education is essential in developing a culture of prevention for students.

A new report offers approaches to ‘health-promoting schools’ and examples of good practices in Europe to get people moving and prevent MSDs. The report presents success factors and obstacles and examines how schools can contribute to long-term prevention early on.

Read the report Better Schools by Promoting Musculoskeletal Health

Learn more: 

Ergonomics in OSHwiki, the new EU-OSHA knowledgebase

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OSHwiki is a reliable source of ergonomics and more OSH information. Contributors include many national organisations for occupational safety and health as well as leading research institutes and accredited authors can create and edit content quickly and easily.

OSHwiki logo

OSHwiki is a reliable source of ergonomics and more OSH information. Contributors include many national organisations for occupational safety and health as well as leading research institutes and accredited authors can create and edit content quickly and easily.

OSHwiki logo

With nearly 300 articles already uploaded by OSH experts, topics found on the platform cover areas such as OSH management and organisation, dangerous substances, psychosocial issues and groups at risk. As a one-stop shop for OSH content, OSHwiki aims to be the go-to resource on health and safety for the OSH community and beyond.

OSHwiki screenshot

There are several pages dedicated to ergonomics, covering physical, cognitive, and organisational ergonomics, the category Musculoskeletal disorders contains 14 pages from “Assessment of physical workloads to prevent work-related MSDs” to “Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among hospital workers“

Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox at CEN and CENELEC

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CEN and CENELEC have launched a new section on their website as part of their ongoing efforts to encourage the widest possible range of stakeholders to get involved in standardization activities and help shape the content of European Standards. 


The ‘Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox’ is aimed in particular at supporting the participation of organizations that are concerned with defending the interests of consumers, protecting the environment, and promoting the health and safety of workers.

Standards, which are documents that set out specifications and other technical information with regard to various kinds of products, materials, services and processes, can have significant impacts on the safety and well-being of consumers and workers, as well as on the wider society and the environment. Enabling organizations representing societal stakeholders to participate in the development of standards helps to ensure that all relevant concerns can be taken into account during the drafting process.

The ‘Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox’ can be accessed directly from the homepage of the CEN-CENELEC website. It provides practical advice to organizations representing consumers, workers and environmental interests on where to find information about ongoing standardization activities and how they can contribute to the standards development process at national, European and international levels.

The toolbox has been developed by CEN and CENELEC in the framework of their ongoing collaboration with three umbrella organizations that represent the interests of specific interest groups within the European Standardization System.  These organizations are: ANEC (the European consumer voice in standardisation), ECOS (European Environmental Citizens Organisation for Standardisation), and ETUI(European Trade Union Institute – Health and Safety Department).

At national level, many members of CEN and CENELEC are also cooperating with societal stakeholders organizations. Based on existing examples of good practice, CEN and CENELEC are encouraging all of their members (in 33 European countries) to support the active involvement of societal stakeholders in standardization activities and to facilitate this by providing relevant information on their respective websites.

The ‘Societal Stakeholders’ Toolbox’ was officially presented at the CEN-CENELEC New Year Cocktail Reception, which took place in Brussels on 22 January 2014.

Report sheds light on the key factors determining OSH practice

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A new report from EU-OSHA describes the contextual and environmental factors that shape approaches to OSH management

A follow-up study to ESENER, the report finds that working environments in EU Member States have a dynamic and changing nature. However, the differences between them are significant. This insight helps to explain why EU work requirements are not applied in the workplace in a universal manner.

A new report from EU-OSHA describes the contextual and environmental factors that shape approaches to OSH management

A follow-up study to ESENER, the report finds that working environments in EU Member States have a dynamic and changing nature. However, the differences between them are significant. This insight helps to explain why EU work requirements are not applied in the workplace in a universal manner.