Workshop “Health at Work” Friday June 12th, 2015
Health and safety at work plays a key role for the well-being of people of working age. In the face of rapid changes in the economic and policy environment, particularly after the prolonged economic crisis, it is necessary to reassess our understanding of the economic and social costs of health and safety provision at work.
The costs of work-related health problems have been estimated to be substantial. According to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the costs of work-related accidents and diseases range from 2.6% to 3.8% of GDP and over 1 worker out of 10 is affected every year by a work accident or a work-related health problem. These costs matter not just for the workers or employers involved, since a large part of the burden is borne by society as a whole. Hence cost-effective and efficient health spending can increase the economy’s production assets, such as the quantity and quality of labour, also enabling people to remain active and in better health for longer.
The aim of the workshop is to bring together health and labour economists to provide a better understanding of the economic implications of health at work.
Among the key issues that the workshop will address are: the effects of working conditions on health, the health effects of retirement decisions, the economic implications of safety and work injuries, the effects of the trend towards more flexible employment and shift or night work on workers' health, the work capacity of senior workers and long careers on mental and physical health.
The workshop intends to investigate and assess the economic contexts, the institutional structures and policy frameworks on health and safety at work with the objective of identifying areas of policy action so as to inform policymakers about the economic and social costs of health at work.