Events

An event seeking to raise awareness and provide valuable insights into the current Healthy Workplaces Campaign has been organised in Patras by our Greek focal point Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

The introductory presentation will highlight the importance of the campaign and the benefits and challenges of integrating digital technologies into the workplace. Key focus areas will include the work-related risks posed by digital innovations and the measures necessary to address them.

A session will be dedicated to the impact of digital platform work on OSH, as well as legislative measures on the topic introduced by the Ministry in recent years. Specific emphasis will be placed on the high-risk scenarios faced by these workers, particularly those involved in goods and food delivery.

The next area will cover remote and hybrid work, examining their implications for OSH and including an overview of a risk assessment study for teleworkers, which will provide participants with information on the unique challenges posed by home-based work environments. Attendees will then be introduced to the campaign website and the popular Napo films and accompanying resources and materials, widely recognised for their role in raising awareness.

Sedentary work, a growing concern in the digital age, will be the subject of the following presentation. The speakers will emphasise the increasing prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders due to prolonged periods of sitting and its associated risks. The audience will learn about ergonomic solutions to mitigate these risks, which can be implemented both in their professional and private lives.

The challenges and specificities of worker management through (AI) AI refers to systems that display intelligent behaviour by analysing their environment and taking actions – with some degree of autonomy – to achieve specific goals. AI-based systems can be purely software-based, acting in the virtual world (e.g. voice assistants, image analysis software, search engines, speech and face recognition systems) or AI can be embedded in hardware devices (e.g. advanced robots, autonomous cars, drones or Internet of things applications). and Umbrella term to indicate digital systems for monitoring and enhancing workers’ safety and health including for example smart PPE (that can identify levels of gases, toxins, noise levels and high-risk temperatures), wearables (able to interact with workers, with sensors that may be embedded in hardhats or safety glasses), mobile or static systems that use cameras and sensors (e.g. drones that effectively reach and monitor dangerous areas of work sites avoiding to put humans in danger in the construction and the mining industries). will also be explored, covering the complexities of these systems and OSH risks for workers.

Speakers:

• Dr. Ioannis Konstantakopoulos, PhD, Mining & Metallurgy Engineer, member of the Management Board of EU-OSHA and Head of the Department of the National Focal Point & OSH Promotion Policies (National Focal Point of EU-OSHA), Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Security - Directorate for Safety & Health at Work.
• Mr. Manolis Souvlis, Msc, Chemical Engineer, Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Security - Directorate for Safety & Health at Work.
• Mrs Sofia Ntoussi, Social worker,  Department of the Center for OSH Research and OSH Measurements for the Determination of the Detrimental OSH Factors, Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Security - Directorate for Safety & Health at Work.
• Mr. Ilias Gazis, Chemist, Department for the supervision of the OSH providers,  Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Security - Directorate for Safety & Health at Work.
• Dr. Georgios Gourzoulidis, PhD, Medical Physicist. Department of the Center for OSH Research and OSH Measurements for the Determination of the Detrimental OSH Factors. Directorate for Health and Safety at Work. Hellenic Ministry of Labour and Social Security. EUROFOUND Management Board member representing Greece.