Climate-Driven Trends Influencing Future Occupational Safety and Health

This policy brief comes from EU-OSHA's fourth foresight cycle on climate change and occupational safety and health (OSH). It outlines the key factors and trends influenced by climate change that in turn shape OSH and the world of work in Europe over the next 10 to 25 years. It draws on an evidence review and on expert input gathered through an online survey and a stakeholder workshop, with participants from academia, research institutions, trade unions, employers' organisations and industry.
Seven interacting factors are examined: adaptation and mitigation strategies, automation and technology use, the circular economy, economic instability, climate-driven migration, new materials, and social and wealth disparities. Mitigation measures such as clean technologies and renewable energy can expose workers to novel materials, changed work processes and new skill needs, while adaptation measures may increase outdoor work and exposure to extreme weather or biological hazards. AI and digital tools can strengthen early warning and safety monitoring, but rushed deployment can outpace regulation. Economic losses from extreme weather may lead organisations to deprioritise prevention, migration can bring language barriers and informal work, and nanomaterials and biological agents carry risks that are not yet well understood, even though new materials can also improve protective equipment.
The brief concludes that the impacts of climate change on OSH are intensifying but remain uncertain, and that adaptation and mitigation, while crucial, can have unforeseen consequences for worker safety. It calls on stakeholders across sectors to plan in a coordinated and proactive way, anticipating these interactions and protecting vulnerable workers, including those outside formal employment.
Reference
Maistrello, G., Sykes, K., Xu, L., Adams, A., Silfversten, E., & Könnölä, T. (2026). Climate-driven trends influencing future occupational safety and health [Policy brief]. European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. https://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/climate-driven-trends-influencing-future-occupational-safety-and-health