KANBrief 3/24
Around 110 experts from the areas of occupational safety and health, standardization, testing and regulation met on 13/14 June 2024 at the 8th EUROSHNET conference in Cracow. The Green Deal, the AI Regulation and the circular economy are just some of the many issues currently high on the agenda in Europe and requiring the occupational safety and health community to adapt with new concepts and ways of working.
Digital technologies are substantially changing how, where and when we work. Maurizio Curtarelli (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, EU-OSHA) illustrated how the use of digital tools presents new opportunities, such as greater autonomy and flexibility and better organization of work. At the same time, collaborative robots, and systems that monitor employees or dictate their pace of work, may also have negative consequences. Increasing time pressure and the blurring of working hours and leisure time are a consequence, and communication and cooperation suffer. The rise in teleworking must also be given greater consideration in risk assessments. Curtarelli pointed out the new obligations for employers arising from the EU AI Regulation. Examples concern data privacy, the transparency of AI systems, and the participation of employees in AI-based decision-making processes.
According to Mattias Bergdahl, Deputy Head of Unit in the Directorate-General GROW, standardization is shifting from being a purely technical tool to an increasingly strategic and political instrument. The European Commission is responding to this development with the Standardisation Strategy, establishment of a High Level Forum on Standardisation and appointment of a Chief Standardisation Officer. The silo mentality, Bergdahl says, must be overcome, all parties brought to the table and awareness raised among companies for the importance of involvement – not least in new areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and the Green Deal – in order to safeguard European interests in standardization in the long term. As he says: “If we don't drive standardization forward, others will do so for us.”
The new EU Regulations on machinery, AI and cybersecurity present tremendous challenges for standardization. Over 800 harmonized machinery standards with over 44,000 pages in total must be adapted to the new statutory requirements by January 2026. However, this mammoth task simply cannot realistically be completed within the short time available. Catherine Lubineau (Union de Normalisation de la Mécanique, UNM) presented the roadmap for listing the existing standards in the Official Journal of the EU initially with certain limitations regarding the presumption of conformity to which they give rise. Once priorities have been set, they can be adapted successively to the new requirements.
Market surveillance is also facing new tasks. The fact that the regulations governing machinery, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity are now part of the New Legislative Framework is a major step forward, said Jorge Iñesta (market surveillance, Madrid region). At present, however, it is almost impossible to monitor the numerous and often highly complex technical innovations adequately. More specialist personnel with multidisciplinary skills are needed, as are specialized testing facilities and further training courses on technical innovations. Close and fruitful cooperation between the authorities of all Member States and with all stakeholders is also crucial if market surveillance is to be effective.
The EU has set itself the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2050. The standards organizations have already taken significant measures to support the Green Deal and the circular economy, as Jörg Megow (Deutsches Institut für Normung, DIN) explained. For example, DIN has drawn up a detailed climate action plan to implement the 2021 “ISO London Declaration” on combating climate change. This includes reviewing and amending standards with use of a toolbox, creating the required expertise, and communication and dialogue with other standards organizations and further partners.
Climate change is also of major significance to occupational safety and health: higher temperatures, air pollution, UV radiation, extreme weather events and vector-borne diseases have an impact on workers. New technologies, for example for power generation, are also being introduced. According to Anna-Maria Teperi (Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, FIOH), psychology, physiology, occupational medicine, technology, organization and sociology must be considered in combination to enable hazards to be identified at an early stage and viable solutions developed.
Jorge Martín (Spanish OSH institute INSST) made it clear that the digital transformation has many facets: from automation and digital production processes to the use of algorithms for coordination, monitoring and decision-making processes. The last of these in particular lead to psychosocial risks, for example through the automatic allocation of shifts and tasks, the setting of time standards, and automated evaluation mechanisms. He advocated harnessing the potential of artificial intelligence, but warned of ignoring the risks.
How will people work in the future? In the “Work in 2040” project conducted by the INRS, the French National Research and Safety Institute for the Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases, Jennifer Clerté and her team analysed the potential risks for occupational safety and health associated with ten trends regarding the future of work. These include the huge rise in teleworking, the desire for self-employment, an increasingly results-oriented management culture and growing competition for skilled workers.
Current trends in personal protective equipment include smart functions for collecting and analysing data, AI-driven design, tailoring of PPE to individuals, sustainable materials and eco-friendly production. Małgorzata Okrasa (CIOP-PIB) warned that design must focus on human factors to ensure safety, user-friendliness and comfort. Where smart functions are used, in particular, users must not be overloaded with excessive or bewildering information.
Frank Wohnsland (CEN Sector Forum Machinery) noted that it is often difficult for European stakeholders to become involved at ISO level and thereby ensure that ISO standards are compatible with the European legal framework. Approaches and priorities, he pointed out, differed between Europe and other parts of the world, sometimes considerably. For Europe to remain competitive, the two levels must engage intelligently. Claes-Mikael Ståhl (European Trade Union Confederation) called for means of ensuring that the voice of less well-represented groups, such as employees, is sufficiently heard. The legitimacy of standards would otherwise be called into question. Ewa Zielińska (PKN, CENELEC Vice-president) pointed out that it would be beneficial to strengthen national structures for participation, for example through participation at no cost.
Henk Vanhoutte (European Safety Federation) emphasized that in the light of new technologies such as AI, it is important that the legal framework and standardization continue to develop in unison in order to ensure a high level of safety. Good standards are essential for the conformity of products and the reliability of testing and certification.
Sonja Miesner
miesner@kan.de
Michael Robert
robert@kan.de