Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 40 
Table 2: Physical risks present in enterprises EU27 (in %) – ESENER 2014 and 2019  
 
In the short period of five years from 2014 to 2019,  some significant changes of ergonomic risks  
could be observed. ESENER reports that more enterprises have to deal with lifting or moving people or 
heavy loads (increase from 47.4% to 51.7%) and repetitive hand or arm movements (up from 52% to 
65%). Physical risk and safety risks stagnate.  
The EWCS data also show in most areas only a minor increase or decrease of physical health risks 
(between 2005, 2010 and 2015). Overall, the data are quite similar to the findings of ESENER.  
 
  
 
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