Home > The news of EUROGIP and occupational risks in Europe >
In order to encourage a consistent approach across the EU, the Commission is now proposing an update of the Recommendation on the European Schedule of Occupational Diseases to include Covid-19.
In May 2022, the Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work (ACSH) reached a tripartite agreement on the need to recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease. Updating the 2003 Recommendation was also listed as part of the implementation of the EU Strategic Framework for Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027.
The Commission recommends that Member States recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease for workers particularly concerned: health and social care, home help or where there is a proven risk of infection (during a pandemic) in other sectors. It also stresses the importance of supporting workers infected with Covid-19 at work and families facing the death of the worker.
Today, most Member States already recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease or an accident at work (see EUROGIP Focus). The objective is indeed a certain convergence in practices at EU level and not a harmonisation, knowing that the recognition and compensation of victims of ODs is a national competence.
