Category: Healthy Workplaces Campaign

Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age: Adapting OSH for the Future

Gyula Szabo Leave a comment

Digitalisation is revolutionising the workplace, bringing opportunities and challenges requiring new ergonomics / human factors solutions to update occupational safety and health (OSH). With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, collaborative robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), algorithms, digital labour platforms, and increased remote work, workers and employers face new risks and opportunities. The key to addressing these challenges lies in how these technologies are applied, managed, and regulated within current social, political, and economic contexts.

EU-OSHA’s Efforts and Campaigns

EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign, “Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age” (2023-2025), aims to raise awareness about the implications of digital technologies on workplace safety and health. This campaign underscores the importance of a human-centred approach in designing, implementing, managing, and using these technologies to ensure they are safe and productive. The priority areas:

Advanced Robotics and Automation – Key Considerations for Human Interaction and Trust

According to the Agency’s recently published Policy Brief, “Advanced robotics and automation: Key considerations for human interaction and trust“, the growing autonomy in advanced robotic systems necessitates a shift in the terminology from ‘use’ to ‘interaction’ between humans and robots. The quality of this interaction significantly impacts occupational safety and health (OSH) factors. Various aspects of robotic interaction design, such as cognitive ergonomics, outward appearance, embodiment, robot behaviour, and communication styles, are linked to OSH risks and opportunities. The primary objective is facilitating smooth and natural interactions, enhancing well-being, acceptance, trust, and user experience while mitigating stress and other adverse outcomes.

Anthropomorphic Robot Design

  • Appearance and Behavior: Human-like features (e.g., eyes, facial expressions) can enhance natural interaction and acceptance, especially in social robotics. However, excessive human likeness may cause negative emotions due to the “uncanny valley” effect.
  • Expectation Management: Anthropomorphic features may lead to unrealistic expectations about a robot’s capabilities, potentially impacting task performance and safety. For example, workers might erroneously attribute visual or auditory perception to robots with eyes or ears.
  • Task-Relevant Design: In industrial settings, anthropomorphic movements can improve workflow and task accuracy but must be carefully designed to avoid misinterpretation and potential hazards.

Interaction Principles and Transparency

  • Design Principles: General ergonomic design principles, such as those in EN ISO 9241-110, apply to robotic systems, improving usability and user experience.
  • Cognitive and Sensorial Aid: With increasing robotic autonomy, interaction design must provide mental and sensory aids to prevent information overload and ensure effective decision-making.
  • System Transparency: Adequate transparency is crucial for users to understand robotic actions and intentions, fostering trust and reliability. However, too much information can overload and hinder critical information processing.

Trust in Human-Robot Interaction

  • Calibrated Trust: Appropriate trust in robotic systems is essential for effective collaboration. Over-reliance can lead to complacency, while insufficient trust can result in underutilisation. Trust must be calibrated to match the robot’s capabilities.
  • Influential Factors: Trust is influenced by human-related factors (e.g., user satisfaction, comfort), robot-related factors (e.g., reliability, anthropomorphism), and context-related factors (e.g., team collaboration task difficulty). Reliable and empathetic robots foster higher trust levels.

Risks and Recommendations

  • Privacy and Control: Collecting and analysing data for personalised interaction can raise privacy concerns and feelings of alienation. Ensuring transparency and adhering to data protection regulations is critical.
  • Training and Adaptation: Training on automation bias and system capabilities can mitigate trust miscalibrations. Continuous adaptation to user preferences and task requirements enhances interaction quality.

“Napo in… robots at work”

“Napo in… robots at work” animation provides an overview of safety considerations related to workplace robotics. The film outlines various emerging robotic technologies, associated accident types, key hazards, and control measures.

Production line workers face the highest risk, followed by maintenance workers. Most injuries result from poor workplace design and human error. Technological advances, such as fixed robots, collaborative and mobile robots, and exoskeletons, can enhance working conditions and introduce new hazards in manufacturing environments.

Join the Campaign

The Federation of the European Ergonomics Societies is one of the few EU-OSHA “Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age” campaign partners. Ergonomists have a crucial role in creating healthy workplaces and improving performance and user satisfaction.

Please learn more about ergonomics, human factors and occupational health in the digital age. Visit the campaign’s new “Automation of Tasks” Priority Area for more information, resources, materials, insights and practical tools to ensure safe and healthy work environments in the digital age.

Safe and healthy work in the digital age 2023-2025

Gyula Szabo Leave a comment

EU-OSHA launched the “Digitisation of Work” campaign in October 2023, and FEES is a proud partner of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. The Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age campaign focuses on the following topics:

  • Digital and platform work
  • Automation of tasks
  • Remote and hybrid work
  • Worker management through AI
  • Smart digital systems for OSH (Occupational Safety and Health)

Contact: Szabo Gyula, Bernard Michez

For more information, visit: https://healthy-workplaces.osha.europa.eu/en

The focal points will contact national ergonomics associations to solicit their participation and collaboration.

To support this initiative, we recommend:

  • Establishing a collaboration with the focal point of EU-OSHA.
  • Preparing a designated space on the society’s website for publishing campaign materials.
  • Considering the campaign theme and focus topics in your program planning for the campaign period.

10th Anniversary of the Lithuanian Ergonomics Association

Gyula Szabó

The Lithuanian Ergonomics Association (LEA) organised the 3rd international conference, “DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES AND ERGONOMICS”, in Vilnius on 28th April 2023, to commemorate its 10th anniversary.

In the opening Kazys Algirdas Kaminskas, Eur. Erg., Assoc. Prof., PhD, the president of LEA, introduced the new publication on the development of ergonomics science, studies, and practical activities in Lithuania to mark the anniversary.

The Federation of the European Ergonomics Societies was represented by Gyula Szabó, who shared insights on the connections between digital technologies and ergonomics.

Prof. Eda Merisalu and Annija Poznaka congratulated LEA on the 10th anniversary with commemorative gifts on behalves of the Estonian and Latvian Ergonomics Association, respectively. 

Additional topics discussed at the conference included:

  • The results of the EU-OSHA Healthy Workplaces “Lighten the Load” 2020-2022 campaign. 
  • Guidelines for the “Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age” 2023-2025 EU-OSHA campaign. 
  • Practical applications of ergonomic solutions in companies. 

The conference was attended by more than 75 participants, including guests from Hungary, Estonia, and Latvia, civil servants, practitioners, and scientists. The conference coincided with the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, promoting the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases.

This conference opened FEES activity as an official partner of the “Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age” 2023-2025 EU-OSHA campaign. We encourage all professional ergonomists and ergonomic societies in Europe to support EU-OSHA campaign activities with similar events, posts and press releases.

For more details, please visit https://osha.europa.eu/en/oshevents/lithuania-digital-technologies-and-ergonomics-focus-workers-safety-and-health.

A brilliant priority area of the Lighten the load campaign is changing the perception of workplace wMSD management

Gyula Szabo Leave a comment

Federation of the European Ergonomics Societies is an official campaign partner of EU-OSHA to make the 2020 – 2022: Healthy Workplaces Lighten the Load campaign a success.

Evidence suggests that psychosocial risks and musculoskeletal disorders are so closely related that they are best treated together. The consensus is that many factors contribute to the development of MSDs at work, especially physical aspects (awkward working positions, vigorous movements, repetitive tasks, etc.).

Although physical risk factors are usually the primary work-related influence on the risk of MSD, psychosocial factors at work can significantly contribute to the risk of developing MSD and exacerbate an existing problem. Psychosocial factors may also hinder the return to work (or finding work) for patients with chronic MSD. In addition, MSD (especially when it leads to chronic pain) can lead to psychosocial problems such as depression and stress.

Psychosocial factors associated with MSDs 

  • excessive workloads,
  • conflicting demands and lack of clarity over the role, 
  • lack of involvement in making decisions that affect the worker and lack of influence over the way the job, 
  • poorly managed organisational change,
  • job insecurity,
  • ineffective communication, 
  • lack of support from management or colleagues, 
  • psychological and sexual harassment, third-party violence, 
  • low job satisfaction.

Possible pathways from psychosocial risk factors to musculoskeletal disorders

  • Increased muscle tension will affect the biomechanical loading of muscles and tendons, increasing the risk of overload.
  • Many MSDs disrupt the balance between tissue damage and repair, leading to inflammation. Stress-induced changes in repair mechanisms further disturb this balance and can overwhelm tissue repair processes.
  • Other mechanisms also act indirectly: e.g. perceived stress can lead to increased awareness of pain (pain perception) or decreased pain tolerance.

Even within the limitations of the existing legal framework, there are indications that many employers are not engaging in the risk assessment and prevention process. It is unclear to what extent this is specific to musculoskeletal disorders or whether it extends to other workplace safety risks. However, it’s already clear that fixing legislative gaps will not solve this problem, and action is needed to solve it. Reasons for non-acting can be manifold and include a lack of awareness of the need; and a lack of motivation, presumably resulting from a failure to perceive activities as risky or resulting in a fatalistic attitude that sees such risks as inevitable or “part of the job” and therefore unchangeable. Such unaware perceptions spill over into the workforce, creating a further barrier to effective action. (More information here)

Ergonomists in Europe are committed to reducing the risk of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. We promote a participatory, holistic approach to increase efficiency, reduce workplace adverse health effects, and improve job satisfaction.

Future Generations – Healthy Workplaces Campaign Priority Area

Gyula Szabo Leave a comment

The “Future Generations” is the current priority area of the Healthy Workplaces Lighten the Load 2020-22 Campaign.

The next priority area, “Psychosocial Risks,” will start in September.

For more information, Healthy Workplaces Priority Areas

EU-OSHA has announced the winners of the Healthy Workplaces Lighten the Load 2020-22 Good Practice Awards.

For more information, Good Practice Awards

We organized a session at the “Exchange of Good Practices in OSH – Healthy Workplaces Campaign Partner Event.”

For more information, Exchange of Good Practices Event

Contact: Szabo Gyula, Bernard Michez

We invite all members to provide feedback about this campaign. What impacts have you observed in your countries? How has mobilization been for you?

Please forward this message to your members to gather feedback.

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: 

Supporting musculoskeletal health in the workplace

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The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is running a Europe-wide campaign from 2020 to 2022 to raise awareness of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and the importance of preventing them. The objective is to encourage employers, workers and other stakeholders to work together to prevent MSDs and promote good musculoskeletal health among EU workers.

Why it is so important to prevent work-related MSDs and to promote good musculoskeletal health among EU workers?

  1. Key for EU workers’ quality of life and for sustainable work, productivity and social security systems.
  2. Work-related MSDs remain the most common work-related health problem in the EU and one of the most common causes of disability and sick leave.
  3. Work-related MSDs result in huge costs that fall on the workers, employers, health services and the wider society and economy.
  4. MSDs are preventable and manageable. So high costs related to MSDs can be reduced. The return on investment for workers’ quality of life at work, businesses and social security systems is worth the effort.
  5. Taking into account the need for an ageing EU workforce to remain healthy and productive, it is urgent for organisations to implement MSD policies to prevent and reduce work-related MSDs.
  6. As well as the prevention of new disorders, rehabilitating workers with MSDs and integrating them back into work should also form an integral part of any workplace MSD policy.

All info sheets and other campaign materials are available to download from EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign website (https://healthy-workplaces.eu).

“Ergonomists are committed to creating safe and healthy workplaces with the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders.” The Federation of the European Ergonomic Societies submitted the application to be the official campaign partner of the upcoming Healthy Workplaces – Lighten the Load 2020-2022 campaign organized by European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).

Healthy workplaces Lighten the Load

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2020 - 2022: Healthy Workplaces Lighten the LoadMillions of workers across Europe suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). About three in every five workers in the European Union report MSD complaints, based on data from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey. It makes it one of the most common work-related health problems and also cost employers huge amounts.

2020 - 2022: Healthy Workplaces Lighten the LoadMillions of workers across Europe suffer from work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). About three in every five workers in the European Union report MSD complaints, based on data from the sixth European Working Conditions Survey. It makes it one of the most common work-related health problems and also cost employers huge amounts.

Working actively with prevention helps improving workers’ lives, but it also benefits companies. MSDs are manageable and can be preventable, so costs related to MSDs can be reduced. If someone does develop an MSD, taking simple measures — such as providing professional support and adjusting the work environment — as soon as the symptoms appear significantly lowers the chance of long-term absence from work.

To preview EU-OSHA’s upcoming Healthy Workplaces Lighten the Load campaign focused on raising awareness of and preventing musculoskeletal disorders, the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise organises two orientation sessions to introduce the audience to the topic.

This webinar gives examples of Swedish statistics, future tools for risk assessment of hand intensive repetitive work and a presentation by the authers of a brand new report – Physical work environment for health, well-being and performance.

Presentations:

  • Physical work environment for health, well-being and performance – Cecilia Berlin o Maral Babapour
  • Risk assessment of hand intensive repetitive work – Mikael Forsman
  • Statistics – The people behind the figures – Minke Wersäll

Morning sesion in English

Afternoon session in Swedish

EU OSHA award to FEES

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The Federation of European Ergonomic Societies (FEES) has been awarded for its continued contribution and commitment towards the Healthy Workplace Campaign of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.

The Healthy Workplaces Campaigns have been running since 2000, and several topics highlighted the importance of good ergonomic design as the best way for risk prevention, e.g.

  • 2000: Turn your back on musculoskeletal disorders
  • 2007: Lighten the load (Musculoskeletal disorders)
  • 2016 – 2017: Healthy Workplaces for All Ages

When the campaign partner scheme was installed, FEES decided to dedicate the European Month of Ergonomics to the Healthy Workplace Campaign. For ten years, we have been communicating campaign messages along with adequate ergonomics content every October.

Christa Sedlatschek, EU-OSHA Director, and Kasia Jurczak, Member of Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssenand, handled the Campaign Partner certificate and award to FEES, represented by Gyula Szabó, chair of the Communication and Promotion Committee, at the Exchange of good practices in OSH Healthy Workplaces Campaign Partner event, Brussels, 5 – 6 March 2019. 

Click on the link to read the full report of the Good Practice Exchange event 2019: Campaign partners share their thoughts on the Healthy Workplaces campaign, including a FEES interview.

Thanks to the commitment of individual ergonomicists around Europe, to the joint effort of national ergonomics societies and OSHA focal points, and to FEES’s partnership with EU OSHA, ergonomics is well represented in campaign activities. The regular EU-OSHA campaign partner meetings create further opportunities to represent ergonomics in the OSH community. 

We are ready to continue with the upcoming campaign to prevent musculoskeletal disorders.

ERGONOMIST TO MANAGE DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES BETTER

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The “Manage Dangerous Substances” EU-OSHA workplace health and safety campaign was launched on April 2018 and following traditions the Federation of European Ergonomics Societies (FEES) become an official campaign partner again.

FEES dedicates the 2018 / 19 European Month of Ergonomics – “ERGONOMIST TO MANAGE DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES BETTER” to identify, elaborate and demonstrate how ergonomic profession can contribute to the healthy and safe handling of hazardous substances.

FEES encourages ergonomist and their networks or organisations to join in, organise events, sessions, press conferences, communicate and promote the ergonomics profession capabilities.

The Communication and Promotion Committee of FEES calls educational institutions to initiate research and development programs, in particular student projects, master thesis and PhD works to produce solutions of high ergonomics quality in regard of management of hazardous substances, and submit these result to the The Healthy Workplaces Good Practice Awards

FEES campaign activity has begun May 24, 2018, in Poznan at the Polish Ergonomics Society seminar, when Gyula Szabó, chair of Communication and Promotion Committee of FEES presented the initial EME communication package. The “ERGONOMIST TO MANAGE DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES BETTER” ppt presentation downloadable from this page, and can be used at EME related activity in October at the EME period, and around the year when feasible.

EME_2018_v_1Download