On 29 October 2026, EU-OSHA published a report on the main occupational safety and health risks in residential long-term care. The publication appears around the International Day of Care and Support and also contains policy considerations for the sector.
According to EU-OSHA, employees caring for older and dependent adults are particularly exposed to occupational safety and health risks. The work is demanding and emotional, involves irregular working hours and low wages, and is made more difficult by inadequate funding, according to the agency. These risks can have negative effects on workers’ physical and mental health.
The report uses data from ESENER 2024 and the European Working Conditions Survey 2024. In addition, six case studies have been published, covering topics including a tool for safer lifting and moving of residents in German care institutions, a German emergency programme for care providers, and a participatory approach to assessing working conditions in Polish residential care.
Other case studies address the impact of staffing ratios on safe and healthy working in Finnish residential care, a trade union campaign in the care sector focused on reducing psychotropic medicines, and preventing risks through safer design and renovation of nursing homes.
