Events

The world of work is changing. Digital technologies are rapidly changing how, where and when we work.  For workers and employers in all sectors, digital technology offers increased opportunities but also presents challenges and risks in terms of safety and health.

The campaign aims to raise awareness and practical knowledge about a safe and productive use of digital technologies at work, and about new and emerging risks and opportunities related to the digital transformation of work. This is by bringing stakeholders together to share knowledge and good practice.  

The Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health and EULAR are hosting this webinar for employers, health and safety professionals and for policy makers to highlight the opportunities and the risks that the digital age of work brings to musculoskeletal health – amongst the commonest reasons for people to leave the labour market both short and longterm.  

The wide spectrum of digitalisation will be considered, as in the campaign 

• The term advanced robotics refers to the design, production and use of machines able to carry out difficult and complex tasks using AI to interact with the real world around them. and (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). systems that transform how human labour is performed by carrying out actions.

• 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). that collect real-time data about workers’ behaviours. 

• Digital platform work is all paid work provided through, on or mediated by an online platform – that is, an online marketplace operating on digital technologies that facilitate the matching of demand for and supply of labour. provided through, on or mediated by an online platform.

• 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). that can monitor physiological or mental state, posture and body movement, workers’ location in dangerous areas, instruct workers, or alert workers’ managers or emergency services.

• Remote work is any type of working arrangement to work from home or – more generally – away from the employer’s premises or in a fixed location. In this context the focus is on remote work enabled by digital technologies (e.g. personal computers, smartphones, laptops, software packages and the internet). involving the use of digital technologies.

   

We will consider:

• How digitalisation can promote and protect MSK health and support people with MSK conditions with personal and organisational case studies

• The risks to MSK health through sedentary behaviour; increasing risks, i.e. repetitive activities performance managed by an app; and ways it may adversely impact on people with RMDs due to lack of flexibility 

• The longer term risks of changing how people work and how it needs to be changed to benefit people and society

   

The outcome will be a better understanding of how workplaces can take advantage of digitalisation and mitigate the risks.

Program

• Introduction (3 mins) - Neil Betteridge, Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health

• The Good (20 mins) - How digitalisation can promote and protect MSK health and support people with MSK conditions.

  • How people with a MSK condition can be enabled to remain in the labour market through digital technologies from a personal viewpoint - Sarah Copsey, EU-OSHA

  • How digital technologies can be used to reduce risks to MSK health - Johannes Buchmann, Siemens

• The Bad (15 mins)

  • The risks to MSK health through loss of health promoting physical activity / sedentary behaviour; increasing risks, i.e. repetitive activities performance managed by an app; and ways it may adversely impact on people with RMDs due to lack of flexibility - Tony Woolf, Global Alliance for Musculoskeletal Health

• The Ugly (15 mins)

  • The longer term risks of changing how people work and how it needs to be changed to benefit people and society - Oliver Hendricks, EULAR

• Discussion (7 mins) - Loreto Carmona, EULAR