GIG-OSH Stock-Taking Report. Regulating Occupational Safety and Health in the Platform Economy

The GIG-OSH project investigated occupational safety and health (OSH) risks and the regulations of platform work and provided recommendations to foster a safe and healthy occupational environment for platform workers in Europe and beyond. The project involved seven European countries with different policy and social contexts including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The GIG-OSH stock-taking reports present reviews of existing academic and grey literature. These reviews highlight OSH legislation and research in Europe along with ongoing discussions of the challenges and opportunities posed by digital platforms for OSH regulation and practice. The empirical material for the stock-taking reports included relevant legislation, collective agreements, company OSH policies, government, public authorities, civil society organizations and social partners’ position papers and policy documents along with relevant grey literature.

The national stock-taking reports follow a similar and jointly agreed template by the research group and comprise of seven main sections. Each national report begins with an introduction to national context, including the size of the platform economy and the types of platform work. The second part of the stock-taking report examines the regulatory landscape, including relevant statutory regulation, relevant collective agreements and illustrative examples of company OSH policies and initiatives, and identifies regulatory shortcomings. The third part of the report examines collective representation within the platform economy for platform workers and platform companies, covering among others OSH representatives, workplace representation, labor inspectorates, trade unions, employers’ associations, grassroots organizations, and other forms of formal and informal representation and practices. The fourth part addresses the implementation of relevant EU health and safety regulations such as the EU Platform Directive. The fifth part reviews recent national research on platform work and health and safety, covering both academic literature and grey literature. The sixth part explores recent national OSH policy debates related to digital platforms and platform workers. It includes key issues characterizing the national debate, examples of government-led or social partner-led commissioned work or consultations and key stakeholders’ positions. Finally, in the seventh section, each national stock-taking report highlights key points for awareness and in section eight summarizes its main conclusions.