EU-OSHA visualisation tool on safety and health of Europe’s ageing workforce

EU-OSHA recently launched a visualisation tool designed to allow easy and quick access to the results of its three-year project “Safer and healthier work at any age”. The European Commission concluded a delegation agreement with the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) to carry out a pilot project entitled ‘Safer and healthier work at any age — occupational safety and health (OSH) in the context of an ageing workforce’. This was based on a decision and request of the European Parliament, whose objective was to further investigate possible ways of improving the safety and health of older people at work, as the ageing of the workforce will have a serious financial impact on workers, employers and taxpayers.

Thus, the project aimed to assess the prerequisites for OSH strategies and systems to take account of an ageing workforce and improve risk prevention and health protection for all throughout working life. The key results of the project are presented, including data on demographics, employment, working conditions, and health, as well as examples of OSH policies across Europe addressing the challenges of an ageing workforce.  This data visualisation tool presents the key findings of the project and allows users to explore the data in an interactive way by comparing countries and searching for policies, strategies and programmes, among other possibilities.

The issue of the ageing workforce is represented using the ‘Age pyramid’, that is, an interactive graph showing historical data and the projections for the EU, provided by Eurostat. Next to this, some important figures show that this issue is closely related to OSH and working conditions.

The country insights section provides country specific information on initiatives to address the ageing of the workforce, including healthy life years expectancy, population age structure development, employment rate, workplace risk assessments data etc…

See more in the visualisation tool

Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital and Healthcare Sector: Main activities and outcomes in 2013

In this document you can find the highlights of the work of the HOSPEEM-EPSU Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital and Healthcare Sector.

In 2013 the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital and Healthcare Sector dealt with a range of topics, carried out project-related activities and agreed on several documents.

Download the document

EPSU-HOSPEEM Guidelines and examples of good practice to address the challenges of an ageing workforce in the healthcare sector

Brussels, 11 December 2013: Signature of the EPSU-HOSPEEM guidelines and examples of good practice to address the challenges of an ageing workforce in the healthcare sector.

In the context of the Plenary Meeting 2013 of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector, the Secretary General of HOSPEEM, Tjitte Alkema, and the Chair of EPSU’s Standing Committee “Health and Social Services”, Liza di Paolo Sandberg, signed the joint guidelines and examples of good practice to address the challenges of an ageing workforce in the healthcare sector. The document had been agreed upon in October 2013, following nearly two years of negotiations.

The aim of the document is to provide guidance to support social partners as well as decision makers, managers, workers and other stakeholders at national, regional and local and level, addressing different aspects related to age management policies such as flexible working arrangements, talent management and training, health and safety at work, workforce planning and retirement planning. It is for the social partners at all levels to work in partnership and to consider how this guidance can complement their own systems, initiatives and measures.

Read and download the press release

EPSU-HOSPEEM Guidelines to address the challenges of an ageing workforce in the healthcare sector:

 Download in ENG  Download in FR  Download in DE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Background: HOSPEEM-EPSU work on ageing workforce 2006-2013

HOSPEEM-EPSU Study (2006) “Promoting realistic active ageing policies in the hospital sector” : Download in EN  Download in FR

Technical Seminar HOSPEEM-EPSU “Managing the ageing workforce: Challenges, opportunities and experiences” (Brussels, 27 April 2012)  Download the programme

Documents provided by HOSPEEM members and EPSU affiliates

Finland

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH): Working time + Occupational health – EN
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH): Shift planning + Ergonomics – EN
Public Works Department: Helsinki case study in good health age programme – EN

Germany

Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege (BGW): Älter werden im Pflegeberuf – DE
Initiative Neue Qualität der Arbeit (INQA)-Ratgeber Demographie: Angebote für Unternehmen im demographischen Wandel – DE
Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Securing the Future with Prevention: Strategies for a World of Work aligned to Demographic Change – EN

The Netherlands
StAZ: Memo “Active Ageing + Dutch Ageing Workforce Policies” – EN

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland
DWP: Health Sector: Tackling Ageing Workforce Issues: Resource Pack – EN
DWP/NHS: Managing Ageing Workforce Health & Social Care – EN
Agewell Initiative – Sandwell Primary Care Trust (NHS) – EN
Guide Employers Performance & Retirement Practices (UK) – EN
RCN: Protecting employment for older nurses – EN
RCN: Nurses later stage careers – EN

Background documents collected by HOSPEEM and EPSU Secretariats 

DG EMPL: Integration Ageing Workforce (2001) – EN
CEEP: Valuing Age (2003) – EN
EFILWC: Working conditions ageing workforce (2008) – EN
EFILWC: Search engine for good practices in ageing management of Eurofound
OSHA: Thematic Webpage “Ageing Workers – Safety and Health”
OSHA: Thematic Webpage “Ageing Workers – Safety and Health”
EU Trio Presidency: Assessing Future Health Workforce Needs (2010) – EN
HOPE: Ageing Workforce and Ageing Patients (2010)
ETUI: Occupations and Ageing@Work (2010): Download in EN Download in FR
Eurofound: Sustainable Work and the Ageing Workforce – Report on the basis of the 5th European Working Conditions Survey (2012)
DG EMPL: EEO Review – Employment Policies to Promote Active Ageing 2012 (2012): Download in EN, Download in FR and Download in DE
Andrea Winkelmann-Gleed: Demographic change and implications for workforce ageing in Europe: Raising awareness and improving practice (WLRI Working Paper 5)

Research Papers and Presentations at Technical Review Seminar “Employment policies to promote active ageing” in the framework of the Mutual Learning Programme under the European Employment Strategy, 11 June 2012, Brussels 

Paper “Globalization and the Labour Market Situation of Older Workers: Exploring Trends, Challenges and Strategies for Adaptation”, Dirk Hofäcker, MZES, Mannheim (Germany)
Paper “Living Longer – Working Better”, Donald Storie, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EUROFOUND), Dublin
Presentation “Elaborating guidance and good practice in relation to various challenges of an ageing health care workforce: Flashlights on work in progress between EPSU and HOSPEEM”, Mathias Maucher, EPSU
Presentation “The role of measures to encourage older workers to stay longer in the labour process”, Jan Schugk, Confederation of Finnish Industries

Liaison Forum Social Dialogue, 27 May 2013, Brussels

Presentation “Managing the Ageing Workforce:-A joint priority of HOSPEEM and EPSU, the European Social Partners in the hospital sector: Guidelines and examples of good practice to address the challenges of an agein workforce”, Elisa Benedetti, HOSPEEM

 

“Strengthening Social Dialogue in the hospital sector in the new Member States and candidate countries”

Project funded under budget heading 04.03.03.01 (Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue)

FULL TEXT: National Reports Overview | National reports

Introduction

After several years of pre-social dialogue process led by the Joint Representative Taskforce[1], the Committee on social dialogue in the hospital sector (henceforward: the Committee) will soon be established. The Committee aims to improve the quality of employment and quality of services in the hospital sector by means of constructive social dialogue.

Adequate representativity of EPSU and HOSPEEM is an important condition for success. However, social partners from new Member States are not yet very well represented in the European Social Dialogue. Moreover, the situation and status of Social Dialogue within some of these Member States leaves much to be desired. A strong national dialogue is a conditio sine qua non for adequate representativity in Europe. In turn, a high level of representativity will make the sectoral dialogue more effective at the EU level. Hence, capacity-building in the new Member States is a major priority in the work programme of the Committee.

In this project HOSPEEM, EPSU and national social partners from Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Netherlands have joined forces to strengthen the Sectoral Social Dialogue in the EU 27 and to increase representativity in the Social Dialogue Committee. They wish to remove some of the main obstacles for constructive dialogue on national and EU level. They will combine theoretical and practical methods to tackle problems of a different character, thus optimising the final project result.

Link to the objectives and priorities of the budget heading

This project is the first major initiative of the Social Dialogue Committee for Hospitals after the formalisation in September 2006. This project will support the implementation of a major issue of the work programme of the Committee, i.e. strengthening Social Dialogue in the new Member States and candidate countries. It will also help to increase the representativity of social partners in the EU Social Dialogue, especially from the employers’ side. Finally, the pilot activities will contribute to the development of the three major topics defined in the EPSU-HOSPEEM work programme 2006-2007(ageing, recruitment and retention, skill needs).



[1] The Joint representative task force in the hospital sector was founded in 2002 by members of EPSU and CEEP involved in an informal social dialogue since 1999.