Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 23 
3 Status of working conditions 
This chapter on health and safety -related working conditions provides an overview on status and 
development of working conditions; it is mainly based on the indicators that were selected for the data 
visualisation in the OSH Barometer . This is a quite limited selection of major data;  in surveys and 
statistics many more indicators on working conditions are provided, particularly at national level.  
Practically all working conditions influence mental health, that is, they involve psychosocial risks, and 
all also involve ‘ physical risks’ , including safety aspects of these risks. Mental health risks are 
illustrated in the OSH Barometer by datasets on time pressure, poor communication, dealing with difficult 
clients, discrimination and harassment, and similar. Physical risks include datasets on accidents at 
work, exposures to chemical and biological substances, exposure to noise, vibrations, high or low 
temperatures, and working tasks with ergonomic risks, like carrying, lifting heavy loads or work in tiring 
or painful positions; and also permanent physical inactivity, mainly sitting or long standing. 2  
The figure below shows the percentage of enterprises reporting OSH risks ‘present in the establishment’, 
compared between 2014 and 2019 (ESENER) and covering mental and physical risks. 3  
 
Figure 1: Risk factors present (% of establishments) – ESENER 2014 and 2019 
Note: Prolonged sitting was a new item in the 2019 survey. 
Between 2014 and 2019, some risk factors increased, like ‘Repetitive hand and arm movements’, ‘Lifting 
or moving people of heavy loads’ , and ‘Having to deal with difficult customer, patient and pupils; many 
others showed no changes, like ‘Risk of accidents with machines or hand tools’, ‘Chemical or biological 
substances’, and ‘Loud noise’, or minor decreases like ‘Risk of accidents with vehicles’.