EU Workplace Safety in 2025 and 2026 - Campaigns, Regulation, and What Comes Next

Editorial note: reviewed on 3 July 2026. Sentences shortened for readability; regulatory references checked; event details as published by the organisers.

European workplace safety policy moves through campaigns, regulation and enforcement practice. For IIESMS members, the developments below are CPD material and practice-awareness topics in equal measure.

Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2023–2025: Safe and Healthy Work in the Digital Age

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) closed its three-year campaign on digitalisation with a summit in late 2025. The campaign examined how AI, automation, robotics and remote platforms are changing work. EU-OSHA reported that 32% of European workers now use one or more advanced digital technologies, such as AI software or wearable devices, in daily work. Digital tools bring safety opportunities: real-time hazard monitoring, predictive maintenance and ergonomic assessment. They also bring new risks: algorithmic management, digital surveillance, technostress and the blurring of work-life boundaries. The campaign's Good Practice Awards recognised organisations that adopted digital tools safely. The resources remain available on the EU-OSHA website and are useful reference material when advising on digital adoption.

European Week for Safety and Health at Work 2025

The European Week ran from 20 to 24 October 2025, the final edition under the digital-age banner. Hundreds of events took place across Europe. In Ireland, the National Irish Safety Organisation coordinated national activities alongside the Health and Safety Authority. The Week is an annual focal point, and structured participation can be recorded as CPD.

Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026–2028: Together for Mental Health at Work

The next EU-OSHA campaign launches in October 2026 under the theme Together for Mental Health at Work. It is the ninth campaign under the slogan Safety and Health at Work is Everyone's Business. The focus is mental health and psychosocial risk, with attention to often-overlooked sectors including agriculture and healthcare. EU-OSHA data indicates that 29% of EU workers report work-related stress, depression or anxiety. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the working environment's effect on mental health, build practical knowledge of psychosocial risk prevention, and promote assessment of these risks. Irish practice is moving the same way, with the HSA giving growing emphasis to psychosocial risk. Members working in safety and health should build familiarity with psychosocial risk assessment methodology ahead of the launch.

The EU AI Act and workplace safety

The EU AI Act entered into force on 1 August 2024 and applies in phases, with full applicability from 2 August 2026. Several provisions bear directly on workplaces. Emotion recognition in workplaces and educational institutions has been prohibited since February 2025. AI systems used for recruitment, screening, selection, performance evaluation or similar employment decisions are classified as high risk. Employers must inform affected employees, and consult workers' representatives, before deploying high-risk systems. High-risk systems require meaningful human oversight by people with the competence and authority to intervene and override outputs. Employers must monitor systems for problems such as discrimination, suspend use promptly where problems arise, and keep logs for at least six months. Since February 2025, organisations deploying AI must also ensure staff have sufficient AI literacy for the systems they use. In Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority has been designated as a competent authority for enforcement of certain aspects of the Act. Safety professionals should establish which systems in their organisations fall into the high-risk category and how those systems interact with the safety management system.

A+A Düsseldorf 2025

A+A, the world's largest occupational safety and health trade fair, took place from 4 to 7 November 2025 in Düsseldorf. The event attracted 2,340 exhibitors from 70 countries and around 67,000 trade visitors. It remains the reference event for PPE, workplace design and occupational medicine, and a strong CPD opportunity for members who attend.

References

EU-OSHA — Healthy Workplaces Campaigns and campaign data · Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 — the EU AI Act, EUR-Lex · Health and Safety Authority — hsa.ie · A+A, Messe Düsseldorf — organiser figures.