Setting Occupational Health Research Priorities in Europe: the HERA Project

Abstract

Background: Occupation and employment is a major determinant of health. Despite profound changes in working life there has been little coordinated European health research on occupation. We present first results from the Health and Environment Research Agenda (HERA) project, to set priorities for an environment and health research agenda in the European Union for 2020-2030. Methods: We contacted hundreds of researchers in Europe through an online survey. We also identified major policy needs in the health and environment/occupation nexus by contacting national, regional and European stakeholders representing authorities, intergovernmental organisations, civil society and private sector through surveys and regional meetings. We applied a priori defined criteria to examine novelty, public health importance, importance to the environment, impact on policies, and potential for innovation within the sustainable development goals. Results: Main occupational research gaps identified include: (i) Climate change and worker health; (ii) Ageing workers; (iii) New technologies and chemicals; (iv) Working time; (v) Changing employment patterns and precarious employment; (vi) Mixed exposures and biomonitoring; (vii) Work-life-balance; and (viii) Neglected occupational diseases. In addition, priority actions related to occupation were identified such as commuting to work, tools and infrastructure such as the development of big data, biobanks, large population cohorts with occupational information and occupational cohorts, development of exposome type approaches, and approaches examining societal aspects on employment and productivity. Conclusions: We will discuss challenges in the identification of key areas on occupation and health research that will benefit from new scientific evidence and challenges in strategies to ensure the engagement of stakeholders. This large initiative in Europe has systematically evaluated priorities through the engagement of a wide spectrum of stakeholders across the continent. A longer consultation process will continue over the next 2 years to raise additional research gaps and calibrate recommendations.