New challenges for occupational safety and health in times of the digital transformation in Europe: the role of digital labour platforms

Many studies nowadays focus on taking stock of the platform economy in Europe (e.g., investigating its magnitude, business models, career and job characteristics of workers, …), surprisingly the occupational safety and health (OSH) implications of platform work have remained largely under the radar.

Against this background, the proposed project aims to (i) investigate the OSH risks and regulations of platform work and (ii) provide recommendations to foster a safe and healthy occupational environment for platform workers in European countries based on the results of this study.

Pursuing these aims, the project adopts a mixed-method study design organised into two work packages (WP) and involves platform workers living in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. WP1 will consist in a European mixed-method cohort of platform workers.

WP1 will explore longitudinally ways in which platform work is associated with OSH-risks and poor health and the experiences of platform workers in regard to OSH of their jobs. WP2 aims to research ways for promoting changes for safer and healthier occupational environments for platform work.

For doing so, WP2 will explore how do platform work managers perceive the OSH of employees/workers, what are the characteristics of platforms that maintain a healthy work environment and what are the regulatory contexts and challenges in terms of OSH posed by platform of work.

Both WPs will explore similarities and differences across countries and forms of platform work, thereby contextualising the findings about health and platform work within different regulatory environments.

The expected results of this project will provide new and original scientific understanding of an understudied and evolving challenge for the future world of work.

Drawing on the new scientific understanding, the project will provide new guidance for policymakers, companies and trade unions to protect the health of the European workforce.