On Monday and Tuesday, 15-16 May, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit will be in Stockholm to participate in the Occupational Safety and Health Summit 2023, co-organised by the Commission and the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Experts and stakeholders in the field of occupational safety and health from, among others, the European Parliament, EU Member States, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the International Labour Organization, as well as representatives of European social partners will also attend the event. 

The Summit will be an opportunity to take stock of the implementation of the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027. Since its adoption, the Commission has delivered proposals to improve the protection of workers from asbestos and from health risks linked to the exposure to lead and diisocyanates.

It has also issued new guidance for the safe management of hazardous medicinal products at work and has adopted an updated Recommendation on occupational diseases to recommended that Member States recognise COVID-19 as an occupational disease in certain contexts, based on a tripartite agreement.

In the strategic framework, the Commission called on Member States to align their national occupational safety and health strategies with the EU framework and effectively implement them, in collaboration with social partners. In addition, discussions of the Summit will focus on mental health at work, the ‘Vision Zero’ approach to prevent and eliminate work-related deaths, the impact of climate change and in particular heat waves on occupational safety and health as well as exchanges on the national occupational safety and health strategies. EU-OSHA will also present its report “Occupational safety and health in Europe: state and trends 2023.”

Ensuring workers have a healthy, safe and adaptable work environment is enshrined in principle 10 of theEuropean Pillar of Social Rights.The Occupational Safety and Health Summit can be followed live here. The conference conclusions will be presented on 16 May at 11:15 CEST to members of the media, who can register by 15 May as outlined on the Swedish Presidency website.