People go to work to make a living – to provide for themselves, their family and their loved ones.
Every working day across the European Union twelve working people do not come home from work - because they have died at work. Far from earning a living, work has killed them, and their families suffer emotionally, financially and in many other ways.
On International Workers Memorial Day and everyday, we remember those killed or injured at work – and we urge the European Union, member state governments and employers to bring an end to deaths at work. We call for zero death at work.
Zero death at work is not a utopian dream. The trend in fatal workplace accidents is down and eradication of fatal accidents is achievable.
But while fatal accidents are declining, occupational diseases are increasing. Some 100,000 workers die every year from occupational cancer due to exposure to hazardous substances. Long working hours and psychological pressure at work cause heart-disease, stroke, depression, and suicide. Bad posture, repetitive movement and heavy lifting cause backpain and other ‘musculoskeletal’ disorders and in turn cause depression and people being unable to work.
New challenges for health and safety are posed by extreme weather and temperatures from climate change, and new forms of work away from the traditional workplace such as rapidly increasing work from home and platform work. COVID has shown that the workplace is a major source of contagion, has led to the death of many thousands of workers, and we must be better prepared in work and elsewhere for future pandemics.
The EU’s current health and safety strategy says “All efforts must be deployed to reduce work-related deaths as much as possible, in line with a Vision Zero approach to work-related deaths”. This is good, but the actions promised in it will not achieve zero deaths.
We call on the European Union, its member state governments, and employers to genuinely commit, and take the actions needed, to achieve zero death at work. Europe needs much more to “walk the walk” than “talk the talk”.
This means a concerted joined-up effort to
- Prevent workplace accidents and occupational diseases, stopping exposure to hazardous including cancer-causing substances and be ready for pandemic
- Make physical and mental health of workers the point of departure when organizing work and designing the workplace.
This will require action at EU, national, sectoral and company level, with legislative as well as other initiatives involving trade unions and employers: including increased education, training, monitoring, prevention, protection, reporting, inspection, enforcement and penalties.
We expect and demand such action to be delivered by the next European Commission and European Parliament from 2024, in addition to the legislative action to be taken by the Commission in the current term. Zero deaths by 2030.
SIGNATURES
Yolanda Díaz Pérez, Vice-President and Minister for Work and Social Economy, Spain
Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Deputy Prime Minister for the Economy and Labour, Belgium
Marius Budai, Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Romania
Georges Engel, Minister of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Luxembourg
Karien van Gennip, Minister on Social Affairs and Employment, The Netherlands
Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Portugal
Luka Mesec, Minister of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Slovenia
Tuula Haatainen, Minister of Employment, Finland
Claude Haagen, Minister of Social Security, Luxembourg
Milan Krajniak, Minister of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affair and Family, Slovak Republic
Madalin-Cristian Vasilcoiu, State Secretary to the Minister for Labour and Solidarity Protection, Romania
Dimitrios Papadimoulis MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament, The Left, Greece
Evelyn Regner MEP, Vice-President of the European Parliament, S&D, Austria
Iratxe García Pérez MEP, President of the S&D Group, Spain
Philippe Lamberts MEP, Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group, Belgium
Manon Aubry MEP, Co-President of the The Left Group, France
Dennis Radtke MEP, Coordinator EMPL Committee – EPP, Germany
Agnes Jongerius MEP, Coordinator EMPL Committee – S&D, The Netherlands
Lucia Duriš Nicholsonová MEP, Coordinator EMPL Committee – Renew Europe, Slovakia
Sara Matthieu MEP, Coordinator EMPL Committee – Greens/EFA, Belgium
Nikolaj Villumsen MEP, The Left, Denmark
João Albuquerque MEP, S&D, Portugal
Marc Angel, MEP S&D, Luxembourg
Alex Agius Saliba, MEP S&D, Malta
Maria Arena MEP, S&D, Belgium
Konstantinos Arvanitis MEP, The Left, Greece
Erik Bergkvist MEP, S&D, Sweden
Gabriele Bischoff MEP, S&D, Germany
Malin Björk MEP, The Left, Sweden
Marc Botenga MEP, The Left, Belgium
Milan Brglez, MEP, S&D, Slovenia
Sylvie Brunet MEP, Renew Europe, France
Ilan De Basso MEP, S&D, Sweden
Leila Chaibi MEP, The Left, France
Ciarán Cuffe MEP, Greens, Ireland
Rosa D'Amato MEP, Greens, Italy
Özlem Demirel MEP, The Left, Germany
Klára Dobrev MEP, S&D, Hungary
Estrella Durá Ferrandis MEP, S&D, Spain
Frances Fitzgerald MEP, EPP, Ireland
Loucas Fourlas MEP, EPP, Cyprus
Cindy Franssen MEP, EPP, Belgium
Heléne Fritzon, MEP, S&D, Sweden
Sylvie Guillaume MEP, S&D, France
José Gusmão MEP, The Left, Portugal
Eero Heinäluoma MEP, S&D, Finland
Alicia Homs Ginel MEP, S&D, Spain
Evin Incir MEP, S&D, Sweden
Petros Kokkalis MEP, The Left, Greece
Stelios Kouloglou MEP, The Left, Greece
Elena Kountoura MEP, The Left, Greece
Miapetra Kumpula-Natri MEP, S&D, Finland
Aurore Lalucq MEP, S&D, France
Chris MacManus MEP, The Left, Ireland
Marisa Matias MEP, The Left, Portugal
Karen Melchior MEP, Renew Europe, Denmark
Marina Mesure MEP, The Left, France
Silvia Modig MEP, The Left, Finland
Carina Ohlsson MEP, S&D, Sweden
Grace O'Sullivan MEP, Greens, Ireland
Demetris Papadakis MEP, S&D, Cyprus
Anne-Sophie Pelletier MEP, The Left, France
Kira Marie Peter-Hansen MEP, Greens, Denmark
Sirpa Pietikäinen MEP, EPP, Finland
Manu Pineda MEP, The Left, Spain
Giuliano Pisapia MEP, S&D, Italy
Sira Rego MEP, The Left, Spain
René Repasi MEP, S&D, Germany
Eugenia Rodríguez Palop MEP, The Left, Spain
Daniela Rondinelli MEP, Non-attached, Italy
Mounir Satouri MEP, Greens, France
Helmut Scholz MEP, The Left, Germany
Romana Tomc MEP, EPP, Slovenia
Miguel Urbán Crespo MEP, The Left, Spain
Idoia Villanueva Ruiz MEP, The Left, Spain
Marianne Vind MEP, S&D, Denmark
Johan Danielsson, former Minister for Housing and Deputy Minister for Employment, Sweden
Eva Nordmark, former Minister for Employment, Sweden
Andrea Orlando, former Minister of Labour and Social Policies and MP, Italy
Mario Lindner MP, Austria
Beppo Muchitsch MP, Austria
Mag.a Verena Nussbaum MP, Austria
Korinna Schumann MP, Austria
Rainer Wimmer, MP, Austria
Claes-Mikael Stahl, Deputy General Secretary, ETUC
Pepe Álvarez, General Secretary, UGT, Spain
Leonard Sorin Barascu, President, CNSLR FRATIA, Romania
Isabelle Barthes, Deputy General Secretary, IndustriAll Europe
Thierry Bodson, President, ABVV/FGTB, Belgium
Petra Bolster, International Secretary and General Board member, FNV, Netherlands
PierPaolo Bombardieri, General Secretary, UIL, Italy
Mario Coppens, President, ACLVB/CGSLB, Belgium
Vanessa Correia, International Relations and Greater Region Officer at LCGB and vice-president of the Joint European Secretariat of OGBL and LCGB (SECEC
Csaba Csóti, President, SZEF, Hungary
Tom Deleu, General Secretary, EFBWW
Plamen Dimitrov, President, CITUB, Bulgaria
Véronique Eischen, OGBL, member of the Executive Board and President of the Joint European Secretariat of the OGBL and LCGB (SECEC)
Jarkko Eloranta, President, SAK, The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
Susan Flocken, European Director, ETUCE - CSEE
Susanna Gideonsson, President, Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO), Sweden
Nayla Glaise, President, Eurocadres
Jaakko Haikonen, Advisor for International Affairs, STTK, the Finnish Confederation of Professionals
Matti Harjuniemi, Chairman, The Construction Trade Union, Finland
Reiner Hoffmann, President, DGB, Germany
Tapio Jääskeläinen, Work Environment Expert, The Construction Trade Union, Finland
Lidija Jerkič, President, ZSSS, Slovenia
Wolfgang Katzian, President, OEGB, Austria
Srdja Kekovic, Secretary General, Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro
Jere Ketola, Expert in Social Affairs, The Construction Trade Union, Finland
Patricia King, General Secretary, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Ireland
Judith Kirton-Darling, Deputy General Secretary, IndustriAll Europe
Nina Kreutzman, International Secretary, The Construction Trade Union, Finland
Maurizio Landini, General Secretary, CGIL, Italy
Melinda Mészáros, President of LIGA, Democratic League of Independent Trade Unions, Hungary
Frances O’Grady, General Secretary, Trades Union Congress, UK
Marián Magdoško, President, KOZ SR, Slovakia
Andreas Matsas, General Secretary, SEK, Cyprus
Anne Mironen, Adviser for Health, Safety and Equality at Work, SAK, The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
Mladen Novosel, President, Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia (UATUC)
Ida Nummelin, Advisor, Social and Health Policy, STTK, the Finnish Confederation of Professionals
Antti Palola, President, STTK, the Finnish Confederation of Professionals
Diana Raitelaitienė, President, Lithuanian Federation of Forest and Wood Workers Trade Unions, and member of the Commission on Safety and Health at Work of the Republic of Lithuania, Lithuania
Vilim Ribić, President, Matica – Association of Croatian Trade Unions (MHS)
Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary, UNI Europa
Oliver Röpke, President, EESC Workers' Group
Marie-Hélène Ska, General Secretary, CSC, Belgium
Luigi Sbarra, General Secretary, CISL, Italy
Carol Scheffer, Chair of UNI Europa Women’s Committee
Krešimir Sever, President, Independent Trade Unions of Croatia (NHS)
Morten Skov Christiansen, Vice-president, Danish Confederation of Trade Unions, Denmark
Unai Sordo Calvo, General Secretary, CCOO, Spain
Livia Spera, General Secretary, ETF
Dr. Andreas Stoimenidis, Political OSH Secretary of GSEE Greece
Luc Triangle, General Secretary, IndustriAll Europe
Miranda Ulens, General Secretary, ABVV/FGTB, Belgium
Olivier Valentin, National Secretary, CGSLB/ACLVB
Michael Vassiliadis, President, IndustriAll Europe
Róbert Zlati, President, MASZSZ, Hungarian Trade Union Confederation
Päivi Niemi-Laine, President of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL, Finland
Collegium Ramazzini, Italy
The Society of Occupational Medicine, UK
Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, UK
Mireya Rifá Fabregat, President, European Network of Safety and Health Professional Organizations ( ENSHPO)
Professor Dr Alex Burdorf, Editor-in-Chief, Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health
François Desriaux, Editor-in-Chief, Santé et Travail, France
Dr. Maja Metelko, Editor-in-Chief, ‘Delo in varnost’, Journal of Occupational Health and Fire Safety, Slovenia
Herbert Mulligan, Editor, Health & Safety Review, Ireland
Professor Rory O’Neil, Editor, Hazards Magazine, UK
Nikolaos Voulelis, Director of newspaper Efimerida Syntakton, Greece
Raymond Agius, Professor (Emeritus) of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,University of Manchester, UK
Maria Albin, Professor and Senior Consultant, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Alain Bobbio, National Secretary, ANDEVA (Association Nationale de Défense des Victimes de l'Amiante), France
Gábor Borhidi, Executive officer of the Hungarian National Commission for Occupational Health and Safety, Hungary
Bernard Dugué, Enseignant-chercheur en ergonomie, Bordeaux-INP, France
Lode Godderis, Professor of Occupational Medicine, KULeuven and CEO of IDEWE, Belgium
Bengt Järvholm, Senior Professor, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University
Antti Koivula, Director General, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Finland
Darko Palačić PhD, College of Occupational Safety and Health, Croatia
Nick Pahl, CEO, Society of Occupational Medicine, UK
Dimosthenis A. Sarigiannis, Professor in Environment and Health, University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Simon Schnabl, Head of the Department of Occupational, Process and Fire Safety, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
Dr Jukka Takala, Past President, Board member, International Commission of Occupational Health, Finland