Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 75 
Even in the short period between 2013 and 2018 (the period covered by these pilot statistics) the data 
show an overall decline and a decline of several relevant occupational diseases. The strongest decrease 
— practically a halving — can be seen for hearing impairments (diseases of the inner ear). 
Pneumoconiosis, mesothelioma and selected occupational cancers went down between 7% and 14% . 
Asthma and some recognised MSDs  are more or less stagnating, probably due to unchanged 
exposure to biological or chemical substances and no change regarding the health outcomes of 
ergonomic working conditions. 
If work is one of some causative factors, a clear assignment of work to a health outcome is complex. 
Moreover, in many cases a quite long observation period is necessary simply due to the latency time 
between exposure at work, outbreak and detection of a disease , which is obviously very different 
from the clear and immediate consequence of an accident at work.  
The detection of a disease and the correlation between work and this disease depends highly on the 
monitoring capacities of the health system and its ability, tradition and standards to connect 
diseases and work-related causes. In a study on ‘Asbestos‐related occupational diseases in Central 
and East European Countries’ the authors refer to different policies for identifying workers formerly 
exposed to asbestos and conclude:  
‘Consequently, large differences are observed from one country to another regarding the number of 
recognised asbestos-related cases. In Slovenia, for example, the annual asbestosis rate (cases of 
asbestosis/population) amounts to 14.9, in Croatia 5.3, and in Poland 2.1. Moreover, in Estonia, the 
incidence of asbestosis is unknown as there is no systematic collection of data.’ 181 
For e xample, until now very few occupational diseases have been recognised as outcomes of 
psychosocial risks at work. The ILO proposes in its ‘List of Occupational Diseases Recommendation’ a 
large number of very specific and ‘classic’ occupational diseases — a very broad definition of ‘Mental 
and behavioural disorders’  but leaving the responsibility to science and to ‘national conditions ’.182 
Similarly, t he development of the  European Schedule of O ccupational Diseases (ESOD) aims to 
improve knowledge, step up prevention and provide assistance in linking  occupational activities and 
diseases. 
 
 
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