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Coordination of European Research on Industrial Safety towards Smart and Sustainable Growth

OSH related challenges in and solutions for work through digital labour platforms

OSH related challenges in and solutions for work through digital labour platforms

  • Work mediated through digital labour platforms is expanding rapidly across Europe, with algorithmic management increasingly shaping how tasks are allocated, monitored and evaluated. Platform work can offer flexibility and labour market access, but it also raises occupational safety concerns, particularly for workers often classified as self-employed and therefore not fully covered by traditional occupational health and safety legislation. Algorithmic management can create incentives for unsafe behaviour, intensify work pace, reduce autonomy and shift risks to workers, while platforms and software designers may not systematically consider OSH implications in their systems. At the same time, emerging EU policy initiatives, including proposals addressing platform work and algorithmic management, may change responsibilities and enforcement mechanisms, yet their practical OSH consequences remain insufficiently understood. Existing prevention approaches are challenged by limited visibility on platform working conditions and by the multi-actor nature of platform ecosystems involving platforms, workers, clients and regulators. This project addresses these gaps by analysing legal, technical and learning-based instruments that can improve occupational safety in platform work, with a focus on actionable prevention guidance for platforms and workers and on how algorithmic management can be leveraged to support safer work.

  • The project investigates which factors influence occupational safety for platform workers and to what extent these factors can be shaped by legal and policy instruments, technical platform functionalities and learning or risk management mechanisms. It examines the legal and practical OSH consequences of the algorithmic management chapter of the proposed EU Platform Work Directive, focusing on implications for responsibilities of platforms, clients and workers. The project explores occupational safety risks and benefits in platform work, with a specific focus on delivery work and safe mobility, and identifies potential solutions that maintain benefits while mitigating risks. Another research question concerns the extent to which platform software functionalities and algorithms can be classified as supportive, harmful or relevant for oversight by regulators and workers, and how safer algorithmic management concepts could be designed. The project also investigates how workers’ on-the-job learning and safety management practices are enabled or hindered in platform work and what inter-organisational solutions could support continuous safety learning between platforms, workers and clients. Finally, the project explores how insights across legal, technical and learning dimensions can be consolidated into practical guidance and tools supporting prevention and fair, safe platform work.

  • The project will deliver an analysis of the OSH implications of EU policy developments on platform work, with a specific focus on algorithmic management provisions and their practical safety consequences for different actors. It will produce an evidence-based mapping of occupational safety risks and mitigation options for platform workers, with particular attention to delivery work and safe mobility. The project will deliver a structured classification of platform software functionalities and algorithmic mechanisms in terms of their OSH relevance and will develop a mock-up concept illustrating safer algorithmic management processes and user interfaces. It will generate insights on safety learning and risk management in platform work and identify platform features that promote or hinder continuous learning and safety culture. Outputs will be consolidated into practical guidance products, including an integrative final publication and recommendations for platforms, regulators and worker representatives to support preventive OSH management in the platform economy.

  • The project is structured into five interlinked work packages. - WP1 – Analysis of EU legislation on platform work: analyses the algorithmic management provisions of the EU Platform Work Directive and assesses legal and practical OSH consequences for platforms, clients and workers. - WP2 – Occupational safety risks and solutions for platform workers: identifies key OSH risks and mitigation options for platform delivery work, combining literature evidence and stakeholder engagement. - WP3 – Algorithmic management favouring occupational safety: classifies platform software functionalities and algorithms in terms of OSH relevance and develops a mock-up concept for safer algorithmic management. - WP4 – Learning safety management in platform work: analyses on-the-job learning mechanisms and identifies platform features that promote or hinder safety learning and inter-organisational safety management solutions. - WP5 – Integration and final guidance product: integrates results across WPs into a consolidated final publication and actionable recommendations for stakeholders.

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