6. Work-related inequalities

Safe working conditions are a foundational concern of public health and affect a large part of the population. Occupational risks can be found for all employment types and in all work settings, leading to a diversity of impacts on health and wellbeing. This dimension of employment and work conditions is also touched upon by SDG 8, which targets safe and secure working environments for all, including migrant workers and those in precarious employment.

As employment is a basic necessity to generate income, workers are reliant on safe working conditions but may not be in a position to influence them. This can lead to work-related risks and exposures that directly affect health and wellbeing through work injuries, stress symptoms, chronic diseases or functional limitations.

The work setting represents an environment in which specific risks are encountered; thus, specific regulations are required to prevent impacts on health. This is especially relevant for vulnerable workers who may have less capacity to cope with occupational exposures.

Such regulations may not be present, however, and may not always be implemented effectively – causing avoidable risks to all workers and especially those with less ability to protect their rights (such as migrant workers, self-employed people and employees in unsecure and unstable contractual arrangements).

This section highlights work-related inequalities through two indicators:

• inequalities in work-related fatal injuries; and • inequalities in health risks in working environments.

While data on work injuries are available for many countries in the WHO European Region, much less information is available on working environments, and data were only identified for EU countries.