Telework in the post-COVID19 scenario

NOTUS is developing a study on telework commissioned by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) 

EU-OSHA is implementing a multiannual research activity focusing on work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) which started in 2018 and will conclude at the end of 2021. This activity contributes to the European Healthy Workplaces Campaign (HWC) 2020-22 on MSDs, which is coordinated across the EU member states by EU-OSHA. The activity and the campaign take a holistic approach to the management of musculoskeletal disorders at the workplace, covering prevention and also rehabilitation and return-to-work. 

In this context, the relation of telework and MSDs is of high relevance, due to the extension of telework as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and existing evidence on the impact of telework on MSDs in connection with psychosocial risk factors.  

For this reason, EU-OSHA has launched this study, which focuses on telework and its association to psychosocial risk factors and the occurrence of MSDs. It is a qualitative study involving desk and field research in three countries /France, Italy and Spain) to investigate more in depth and collect evidence on the implications of telework for workers, focusing in particular on occupational health and safety (OSH) aspects (namely psychosocial risk factors and MSDs problems, and the association between them), and identify policy areas in relation to which recommendations will be formulated.

Preliminary results were presented in a webinar organised by EU-OSHA on 25 March 2021, where also experts from EU-OSHA,the Joint Research Centre, the University of Naples “Federico II”, Ecorys, IDEWE and EUROFUND participated. The presentations are available here