Occupational safety and health in Europe - state and trends 2023 
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work – EU-OSHA 54 
• often less secure electrical systems and inadequate light levels; 
• unsafe equipment in households like private ladders, unknown chemical products to be used 
by domestic and care workers; 
• unsafe stairs, handrails and so on; 
• temperature and ventilation; 
• noise. 
It is evident that often it is not possible or very difficult to realise at every mobile workplace a 
standard close to that of a stationary workplace. It is a permanent challenge for legislators and 
supervisors, which minimum limits have to be fulfilled, and at what point  these working conditions pose 
a significant health risk where regulation of minimum standards is needed.  
A major issue during the pandemic of 2020/ 2021 was the drastically increased number of office 
workers doing remote or telework who used without much preparation time mobile digital equipment 
in an often not well-adapted private home. The EU legislation closest to the OSH aspects of ICT work 
and mobile ICT work are Directive 89/654/EEC (Workplace Directive) and Directive 90/270/EEC 
(Display screen equipment DSE Directive) that set standards for stationary workplaces. However, the 
Workplace Directive excludes mobile workplaces, and the Display screen equipment directive refers to 
the technological situation of the nineties, that is, large monitors and desktop computers. As determined 
in the EU Strategic Framework 2021 to 2027 both directives will be revised in the next year; this revision 
might extend the scope t o mobile workplaces that  are until now excluded and refer to the current 
technological status of IT devices.  
Beside these, there are uncertainties in the application of OSH regulations for mobile workplaces 
or in private environments: unclear responsibility and lack of risk assessment in mobile work and work 
at, in and from homes , pose an additional risk in OSH. Methods of risk assessment —  if performed at 
all — differ substantially from risk assessment methods at premises, where employers, professionals 
and state supervisors have direct access to the workplace and control over most of the technical and 
organisational conditions. 
In response to this increase in non-standard work, governmental institutions, business federations and 
unions developed new formats of information that take into account a  higher degree of individual 
responsibility and a decrease in employer oversight and responsibility. OSH institutions promote 
and amplify good examples that already exist. Information via ICT  devices has become a popular way 
of communication. Examples are interactive response tools  that tailor the response to the needs of 
the users including employers, workers  and OSH practitioners (e.g. EU -OSHA's OIRA), and visual 
resources (NAPO videos, EU-OSHA). Some Member States have introduced OSH-specific helpdesks, 
for example, KOMNET.94 
 
3.5 Worker groups with specific risks and needs  
Already in 1996 the European Commission identified in its ‘Guidance on Risk Assessment at Work’ 95 
‘sensitive risk groups’  as workers with disabilities, young and old workers, pregnant and nursing 
mothers, and untrained or inexperienced workers including temporary or migr ant workers. Often these 
groups are addressed as ‘Vulnerable groups’ 96 or ‘Groups at risk’. 97 Other institutions and authors 
include older workers, women, self -employed or low -qualified workers, and the ILO includes also 
workers in the informal economy. A ll these ‘assignments’ refer either to individual (endogenous) 
characteristics or to the position on the labour market.  
The scientific literature on the group-related particular risks for health and safety at work is very broad. 
EU-OSHA and practically all national and international OSH organisations have published studies and