Background

NEW OSH ERA is part of a wider effort to create a European Research Area (ERA), coordinating and developing synergies between national research programmes, and increasing the overall scale and quality of European research.

OSH is vital for the European workforce, and for the competitiveness of the EU as a whole. NEW OSH ERA therefore makes an important contribution to the Lisbon goal of Europe becoming 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion'.

The Community Strategy 2007 – 2012 on health and safety at work” emphasises the importance of research into new and emerging risks for designing preventive solutions and innovative technologies and also points out that “scientific research provides arguments and evidence upon which policy decisions must be based”. It also suggests that more coordination between national research programmes is necessary.

NEW OSH ERA aimed to increase the overall scale and effectiveness of the research into new and emerging risks carried out in the EU by coordination of national research programmes and to contribute in this way to a safer and healthier working life. Thus the link between the goals set by the Community Strategy with respect to research and NEW OSH ERA is obvious. By pursuing its objectives, NEW OSH ERA can significantly contribute to the implementation of the Community strategy.

The strategy lists a couple of challenges and priorities for OSH research. These are being taken into consideration while defining the priorities for NEW OSH ERA joint activities and developing a joint research programme.