Occupational risk and workplace health management know no borders. Every European country has developed its own national strategy — with different priorities, tools and approaches. Yet when you look at the data, the challenges are strikingly similar: fatal accidents, mental health, climate risk, sick leave.
We analysed the plans of five major European countries. Here is what they tell us.
🇮🇹 Italy : National Strategy 2026-2030: Vision Zero
Italy has adopted a National Strategy for Health and Safety at Work 2026-2030 based on the Vision Zero principle: every accident is preventable. The objective is ambitious — drastically reduce injuries and deaths at work through structured prevention, vigilance and an advanced organisational culture.
One of the most significant innovations: developing safety training programmes that begin at school, transforming prevention into a shared and identifying value. SMEs — which represent more than 90% of Italy’s productive fabric — receive specific support and simplifications to facilitate their adaptation.
🇫🇷 France : PST 2026-2030: total protection
France has just launched its Workplace Health Plan 2026-2030 — the fifth in twenty years. The 5 priorities are clear: reduce fatal accidents (824 deaths in 2024), better protect women (accidents up 26% in 20 years), manage heat risk linked to climate change, reduce sick leave and make mental health the national priority.
The French model is one of the most prescriptive in Europe. The DUERP — the Single Document for Professional Risk Assessment — is mandatory for every employer from the first employee, must explicitly cover psychosocial risks and must be kept for 40 years.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom : HSE Strategy 2022-2032: mental health at the top of the agenda
The United Kingdom operates through the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with a ten-year strategy “Protecting People and Places 2022-2032”. The 2024-2025 data is eloquent: 9 million workers reported suffering from work-related health problems. Stress, depression and anxiety represent the leading cause of occupational illness with 964,000 cases — up from 776,000 the previous year.
The economic cost of workplace injuries and illnesses has reached £22.9 billion. The British government has announced a modernisation of health and safety at work guidelines, with particular attention to preventing sexual harassment in the workplace — now subject to a specific legal obligation.
🇪🇸 Spain : 2026, the year of workplace safety
Spain has announced that 2026 will be the year of occupational safety and health — on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of Law 31/1995 on the prevention of occupational risks. One of the most significant developments: since 2025, burnout is formally recognised as an occupational risk requiring specific assessment and management.
Every Spanish employer is obliged to produce a written digital disconnection protocol — establishing clear limits on availability outside working hours. Labour inspectors (ITSS) specifically target companies without this document.
🇩🇪 Germany — GDA 2019-2025: prevention through risk assessment
Germany operates through a system unique in Europe: the dual model of workplace safety. On one side, the State through federal laws. On the other, the DGUV — Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung — the confederation of German accident insurance institutions, with a specific prevention mandate.
The strategic objective of the third GDA — Gemeinsame Deutsche Arbeitsschutzstrategie — for the period 2019-2025 is: to make work safe and healthy through prevention based on risk assessment.
A distinctive feature of the German model: climate change poses a series of risks for workers. The DGUV has made climate risk a research priority — with a more scientific and less prescriptive approach than the French model.
In Germany, occupational safety and health are regulated by a dual system. This means that, in addition to the State, the German social accident insurance institutions are also responsible for occupational safety and health. This dual structure creates a far more capillary control network than in other European countries.
🇳🇱 Netherlands : Europe’s strongest preventive model
The Netherlands has developed one of the most advanced occupational risk prevention systems in Europe. The distinctive feature: Dutch employers are obliged to continue paying at least 70% of wages for the first two years of illness. This creates a powerful financial incentive for preventive investment — with no direct equivalent in other European countries.
In 2024, the Dutch Labour Inspectorate conducted more than 20,000 workplace inspections, taking enforcement action in 35% of cases. Inspections are carried out proactively — without the need for a prior incident to trigger them.
What the European comparison tells us
Five countries, five approaches. But three common challenges emerge everywhere.
1. Mental health is the new frontier of occupational risk. From burnout recognised as an occupational disease in Spain, to 964,000 cases of stress and anxiety in the UK, to France’s Grande Cause nationale — every European country is facing the same emergency.
2. Climate risk is entering prevention plans. France explicitly integrates it into the PST 2026-2030. EU-OSHA publishes climate scenarios for occupational health and safety in Europe up to 2050. Heat is no longer a seasonal risk — it is a structural risk.
3. SMEs remain the most vulnerable point. Whether in Italy with 90% of productive fabric, in Spain or in the Netherlands — small and medium-sized enterprises are those with the fewest resources to adapt. Every national plan includes specific measures to support them.
Conclusion
Workplace health is not a local issue. It is a shared European priority, with different national strategies, but identical challenges.
Knowing what other countries are doing is not an academic exercise. It is a concrete learning opportunity. Best practices have no borders.
Sources: Gouvernement français, PST 2026-2030 (2024) — EB Sicurezza, National Strategy 2026-2030 for Health and Safety at Work (February 2026) — HSE, Annual Statistics 2024/25 (2025) — Eurogip, EU-OSHA 2025-2027 Programme (2024) — Arinite, Health and Safety Compliance Europe (2026) — EU-OSHA, OSH Pulse 2025.