MEPs are calling for more resolute EU action to reduce the number of workplace accidents; on Thursday 21 May in Strasbourg, they backed a resolution requesting that 8 August be designated the ‘European Day in Remembrance for Victims of Accidents at Work and for the Protection and Dignity of Workers’ (see EUROPE 13864/16).
This request was supported by 395 votes in favour, with 12 votes against and 41 abstentions. However, Commission Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu had warned the previous day that a UN Day on this subject already exists, observed every 28 April. The Commission must therefore evaluate this request, a proposal, incidentally, that has already been put forward during previous parliamentary terms.
Beyond this European Day, which would aim to raise public awareness regarding the importance of workplace prevention and safety across the public, private, and institutional sectors, as well as to implement concrete initiatives in schools and workplaces, the lawmakers also called on the Commission to assess and address the occupational health and safety risks associated with artificial intelligence and algorithmic management systems. Workers employed via digital platforms, as well as those whose tasks, pace and performance are directed or assessed by artificial intelligence tools, may face heightened risks due to intensified work paces and surveillance abuses.
MEPs also want the Commission to examine occupational health and safety risks linked to climate factors, such as heat stress, extreme weather events and air pollution, and to introduce improved protection and prevention measures in the workplace.
Extreme heat and the impacts of climate change should be recognised as major occupational risk factors.
Furthermore, occupational health and safety inspectorates should be provided with permanent staff, adequate resources and institutional independence. In its forthcoming legislative act on quality jobs, the Commission must address psychosocial risks in the workplace, as well as the new risks associated with new forms of work.
Link to the adopted resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/lzn (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)