ETUI-ETUC conference 2016 Panel 23 Emmanuelle Brun

Safety and health at work is everyone’s concern. It’s good for you. It’s good for business.

Digital work and robotics:Emerging trends and risks to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)ETUI-ETUC Conference,29th June 2016, BrusselsEmmanuelle Brun, EU-OSHA

http://osha.europa.eu2

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA)

The European Union body responsible for the collection, analysis and

dissemination of relevant information to serve the needs of those

involved in safety and health at work

In Bilbao (Spain), since 1996


EU-OSHA’s work on Digital work, robotics and OSH

Foresight on new and emerging OSH risks associated with

ICTs and work location by 2025”

Expert Review Articles:• “Crowdsourcing and OSH”, Prof. Huws, University of

Hertfordshire, UK• “Robotics”, Dr, Adj.Prof. Kaivooja, Turku School of Economics,

University of Turku, FIhttps://oshwiki.eu/wiki/Category:Identifying_new_and_emerging_risks


EU-OSHA’s Foresight on new and emerging OSH risks associated with ICTs by 2025

Scenario-building: a tool for strategic futures thinking− Doesn’t assume the future is pre-determined, doesn’t demand consensus

− To provide insight and stimulate debate into ways to shape the future

Scenarios of plausible, possible futures to help policy-makers to:− Gain insights into long-term developments

− Better understand what decisions could help avoid/ encourage these futures

Participatory: involves EU-OSHA’s stakeholders/policy-makers− Interviews and workshops with experts and policy-makers, including ETUI

Multidisciplinary− Societal, technological, economical, political context are taken into account


EU-OSHA’s Foresight on new and emerging OSH risks associated with ICTs by 2025

• Contractor: Health and Safety Laboratory, SAMI Consulting & Futurizon

• Final report: End 2017

• Current findings - WP1: − Capture trends and drivers of change through desk research, interviews

and web survey

− 93 Societal, Economic, Environmental, Technological and Political trends


TECHNOLOGICAL - Examples

5G (and beyond) mobile technology Augmented reality (AR)

Advances in computing power and speed

Virtual reality (VR)

Internet of things Advanced materials

Big Data Miniaturisation and Wearables

Artificial intelligence (AI) Immersive communication

Automation Interfacing via other human senses

Collaborative robotics Direct brain to computer

Machine-to-Machine Communication

Cloud computing

Industry 4.0 Open intellectual property movement

Additive manufacturing Social media

Bionics Technical challenges for ICT

Drones Cybersecurity


SOCIETAL - Examples

Characteristics of the workforce− Shortage of an active workforce in the EU− Diverse workforce: more women, ageing and migrant workers and workers with chronic

health problems− Generational differences in the workplace – Ageing workforce vs. the “digital natives”

• Workplace characteristics− Flexible working patterns, incl. zero-hours’ contracts/on-demand workers; shorter-term

temporary contracts− Virtual workplaces: working online anywhere and anytime such that location is irrelevant− Crowd-working− Fluid co-working spaces: shared physical work spaces where different individuals are

generally not employed by the same organisation. − Changes to HR management: monitoring of workers vs. flatter hierarchical structure Skills− Polarisation towards skills and increased inequality − Gaps in specific ICT skills− Quickening pace of knowledge transfer− Life-long learning, job mortgage for training Public attitude− Attitude to and acceptance of ICT development, attitude to on-line privacy


ECONOMIC - Examples

Macro-economic environment− Rising globalisation − EU growth post financial crash of 2008− Re-shoring manufacturing due to ICT advances in

manufacture and concerns about quality and rising costs − Offshoring of knowledge-based work

Changing industry structure− Increase in Micro and SMEs− Rise of the entrepreneur as digital technologies allow

low start-up cost and fast scale-up− Effect of ICT on other sectors: advances in ICT will

continue to impact on the types of jobs accessible and the skills needed in different sectors− Alternative distribution chains: increasing sales direct to consumers and between peers− Increase in e-commerce− Increasing knowledge economy− Rise in the service sector− Growth in sub-contracting

New business models− Sharing economy− Peer-to-peer finance and crowd-sourced funding: allow innovators to get inventions to market− Servitisation

“I’ll have a Zpad4.2 in lime green and purple. And a cup of coffee while I

wait please”

(I used to work just in retail…Now I am expected to be a

manufacturer as well)


Opportunities for OSH

Robotics:• Removes workers from hazardous jobs:− Nuclear industry but also in maintenance, logistics etc.− Drones to avoid work at height or in confined spaces

• Improves quality of work by automating monotonous/repetitive jobs• Human-enhancement technologies - exoskeletons

Digitalisation:• Access to work for a diverse workforce • New opportunities for flexible ways to combine work and private life• Reduces the need to travel for work• New opportunities for OSH communication − sharing OSH information, providing OSH online training (e.g. massive open

online courses)


OSH Challenges - Working with robots and AI

Ergonomic and safety of Human-Machine Interfaces

Too much trust in the infallibility of technology

Increasing “technological” complexity

Lack of understanding of underlying processes

Training programs for workers programming, operating, maintaining or sharing the workplace with robots

Electromagnetic fields

Pressures on workers to achieve very high efficiency demands at the same level as a robot

Need to better understand• User’s experiences • Effects of robots on workers’ wellbeing and health• Psychosocial factors related to robotics in general


Digital work and the 24/7 global economy

Need to be available all the time, including at unsocial time Blurring of boundaries work-life balance Work intensity

• DE: About 60% of employees at internet-based workplaces frequently experience severe deadline and performance pressure

Interruptions Unpredictability of demand at short notice Confusion/conflict between what is important and what is urgent Dependence to technology and Fear Of Missing Out Virtualisation of work relationships, feeling of isolation Lack of clarity over evaluation of worker’s performance and payment Lack of understanding and control over what/how data are collected,

shared and used for what purpose • Big Data: today 2.5 quintillion bytes of data will be generated

A race to the bottom - undercutting of “good employers”


Professional status Work Mode Place of work

Employment

StatusFinal client

Main job orsupplement

Manual Clerical

High-skill Online Offline Hom

eEmpl.site Other Empl-

oyeeSelf-empl.

Individ-ual

Com-pany

Mainjob

Second-aryjob

ElanceoDesk * * * * *Click-worker * * * * *Task-rabbit * * * * *Wonolo * * * * * *Star-bucks * * * * *Mila * * * * *Axiom * * * * *

Crowd-work: A variety of employment models

Some key variables (by Prof. Ursula Huws):


Digital work: A variety of OSH challenges

Ergonomic risks to online workers: • Intensive use of ICT on devices and in environments not ergonomically

designed for (intense) work, Static work Ergonomic to offline crowd-workers

• The most hazardous jobs performed by crowd-workers • OSH training? Safe equipment and products? Protective equipment?

How to reach a dispersed workforce?• Workplace risk assessment?• OSH training, monitoring and enforcement?

Multiple jobs: no job for life• Interaction of exposures• How to link exposures to health effects?

Status and responsibilities:• What is the legal status of online work exchange platforms?• What’s work? Who is a the employer? Responsible for prevention/OSH?

Ambiguities/gaps relating to application of social and OSH law Disentangling OSH from consumers/general public safety

Safety and health at work is everyone’s concern. It’s good for you. It’s good for business.

Thank you for your attention!

Take part in our web survey on key drivers:https://osha.europa.eu/en/highlights/what-are-future-

implications-ict-work-let-us-know-what-you-think

Presentations & Public Speaking

ETUI-ETUC conference 2016 Panel 23 Emmanuelle Brun