WHO
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Credits
Occupational health
Overview
Poor working conditions result in a total of 300 000 work-related deaths and economic losses of 4% of the gross domestic product of the European Region every year. Less than 10% of the working population has access to occupational health services in many European countries.
WHO response
WHO/Europe provides technical and policy support to countries in the European Region for an effective and efficient implementation of the WHO Global Plan on Worker’s Health 2008–2017, in collaboration with governments, trade unions, employers, professional associations and other stakeholders.
The Global Plan aims to strengthen the capacity of national health systems to assess and eliminate risk factors in the work environment. Its general objectives include:
- devise national policy instruments on workers’ health;
- protect and promote health at the workplace;
- improve the performance of and access to occupational health services;
- provide and communicate evidence for preventive action; and
- incorporate workers’ health into other policies.