Work-related stress alert

BRUSSELS (EFE)— Work-related stress kills around 10,000 people in Europe each year, both from coronary heart disease attributable to psychosocial risks at work and from suicides related to work-related depression, according to research released by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI).

The study attributes 6,190 annual deaths in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom to work-related illnesses and adds another 4,843 people who die in suicides related to work-related depression.

"This means that psychosocial risks pose a greater danger to workers than physical accidents, which caused 3,286 deaths in the EU in 2022," the European Trade Union Confederation said in a statement released to coincide with the International Day of Remembrance for Lost Workers.

The platform added that "working women are disproportionately affected by psychosocial risks such as long working hours, job insecurity, and workplace harassment."

The trade union confederation added that there is also a "geographic imbalance," with "a higher prevalence of work-related stress deaths in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe."

The study emphasizes that these deaths are "preventable and that addressing them would save businesses and governments tens of billions of euros each year," leading the European Trade Union Confederation to urge the European Commission to introduce a directive on psychosocial risks as part of its regulations on quality jobs.

"It should establish binding obligations for employers to identify psychosocial risks through appropriate risk assessments, involving workers and unions," they noted.

The general secretary of the pan-European union, Esther Lynch, linked the situation to the fact that digitalization, artificial intelligence, platform work, and the ecological transition are "reshaping the way we work and live."

“While these transformations offer new opportunities, they also bring new dangers. Among them is the increase in psychosocial risks: stress, burnout, anxiety, bullying, isolation, and emotional exhaustion. These are not marginal issues: they are systemic and are increasing,” he stated.