Context: This report contains a forecast of emerging biological risks related to occupational safety and health (OSH) based on an expert survey and a literature review. The Agency also worked on forecasts and literature reviews on physical, chemical, and psychosocial risks in order to paint as full a picture as possible of the potential emerging risks in the world of work.

These results are linked to other Risk Observatory work and aims to examine OSH trends in Europe and to anticipate emerging risks and their likely consequences for safety and health at work. This should help with better targeting of resources and lead to more timely and effective interventions.

Method: Within the scope of this project, an ‘emerging OSH risk’ has been defined as any occupational risk that is both new and increasing.