What is EU-OSHA?
The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work defines itself, on its institutional website, as the European Union’s information agency for safety and health at work. It is therefore an agency of the Union, not a national administration or a private entity.
Its current founding regulation is Regulation (EU) 2019/126 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 January 2019 establishing the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 2062/94.
The Agency is headquartered in Bilbao, in the BAT | B Accelerator Tower building, Gran Vía Don Diego López de Haro, 1, 16th floor, 48001 Bilbao, and maintains a liaison office in Brussels.
Its administrative and management structure, established in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/126, comprises a Board of Directors, an Executive Committee, an Executive Director, and a Network. Article 4 sets out the composition of the Board of Directors: one member representing the government of each Member State, one member representing the employers’ organizations of each Member State, one member representing the workers’ organizations of each Member State, three members representing the Commission, and an independent expert appointed by the European Parliament. Members of the first four groups have voting rights, and their term of office is four years, renewable. The Executive Committee is a smaller steering group, composed of the Chair of the Board of Directors, the three Vice-Chairs, the coordinators of the three stakeholder groups, and a representative of the Commission.
Nature and mandate
The Agency states that its vision is to protect the safety and health of workers by informing policies, supporting risk prevention, raising awareness and involving key stakeholders.
This mandate is structured around three paths declared by the Agency itself: providing evidence and knowledge about current, new and emerging risks to guide policy development and research; creating tools and resources that empower its networks and partners to prevent risks in the workplace; and developing awareness-raising and networking activities that build a positive culture of prevention.
The Agency positions its work as a contribution to the European Commission’s Strategic Framework for Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 and other Union strategies and programs.
It’s important to clarify what it is not. EU-OSHA does not conduct workplace inspections, set standards, impose penalties, or issue certifications. Its product is information and tools.
Activities and resources
All these lines are listed on the Agency’s own institutional website.
- Healthy Workplaces Campaigns. Biennial awareness campaigns on a preventive theme.
- OiRA. An interactive online risk assessment project that offers risk assessment tools for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to evaluate and manage workplace risks. OiRA is an assessment tool, not a certification or seal.
- ESENER. European survey that provides a snapshot of how risks are managed in the workplace.
- OSHwiki. Collaborative resource for information on occupational safety and health.
- Foresight projects. Emerging risk identification work.
- Thematic overviews. Compilations of knowledge and guidance by subject.
- NAPO Films. Audiovisual material for raising awareness about workplace safety.
Links with experts featured in Sabentis Explore
The profile of Hans-Horst Konkolewsky published on Sabentis Explore states that he was the first director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. This is the only connection this profile declares, with the wording and scope detailed in the individual’s profile.
