Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 38 
are shifted towards non- permanent workers and subcontractors, who have less protection and/or 
knowledge to cope with these risks. This scenario is not easy to verify in quantitative data, although it is 
frequently stated in case study research.’  
Also, Eurofound draws such conclusions on the impact of subcontracting on working conditions :  
‘First, employees in subcontracting perceive higher health and safety risks, notably through more work-
related accidents and increased time pressure. Second, there are a number of psychological risk factors, 
such as perceived economic insecurity and worries about losing one’s job, that are more likely among 
subcontracting workers.’49 
There is even an evident relation between such forms of employment and higher rates of work 
accidents. In a first systematic review the authors conclude: 50  
‘This review supports an association between some of the dimensions of pr ecarious employment and 
occupational injuries; most notably for multiple jobholders and employees of temp agencies or 
subcontractors at the same worksite. However, results for temporary employment are inconclusive.’ 
 
OSH Barometer – Mental risks: 
https://visualisation.osha.europa.eu/osh-barometer/working-conditions-preventions/working-
conditions 
ESENER – Data visualisation: 
https://visualisation.osha.europa.eu/esener/en/survey/datavisualisation/2019  
 
3.2 Physical health risks at work  
Risks at work that can result in physical harm can be divided into safety and health risks. 
The main result of insufficient safety is a work accident. A work accident  has as immediate 
consequences either a personal injury, a disease,  or death of one or more workers. Eurostat 
distinguishes between non-fatal and fatal work accidents, and for the majority of sectors it provides also 
the duration of the absence due to the accident — an indicator for the severity of the injury. Non- fatal 
accidents at work can cause medium-  or long- term health consequences, and in the worst case a 
permanent disability. 
ILO Definition of accident: ‘An occupational accident is an unexpected and  unplanned occurrence, 
including acts of violence, arising out of or in connection with work, which results in one or more workers 
incurring a personal injury, disease or death.’ 51 
Physical health risks can be caused by a variety of circumstances and exposures or by inadequate 
ergonomics. Natural circumstances at work can pose such health risks, that is,  temperature, storms 
and floods, unsafe terrain, biological agents and so on; or the risks are due to manmade circumstances, 
that is, work in buildings, on roofs and towers, on traffic routes, under artificial ventilation. Exposure is 
a general term to describe the interaction between environment / emissions / contaminants and the 
human organism. In a workplace context , ‘exposure’ mainly covers emissions fr om machinery or from 
tools and materials, for example, noise, vibration, dust, electromagnetic fields and chemical substances. 
Risks from inadequate ergonomics harm in particular the musculoskeletal system. Ergonomic risks of 
manual work are typically caused by repetitive hand and arm movements, tiring positions, for example,  
permanent kneeling or overhead work, lifting and moving of heavy loads, or of patients and so on . A 
certain ergonomic risk  is physical inactivity, in practice sitting most of the work ing time. Not only 
administrative tasks but also many occupations in service or industry require permanent sitting, for 
example, drivers, cashiers, part assembly operators and so on (often called ‘sedentary occupations’). 
In general, the EU -wide surveys (self -reported working conditions or health problems) show a high 
prevalence of ergonomic risks. Between 40% and 65% of the respondents in ESENER and the EWCS