The current economic troubles aren’t limited to North America. The pressure is being felt world-wide. A hot topic in many safety circles across the globe has been the impact of the recession on workplace safety. Some surveys have been done of safety professionals on this issue. But what do workers think? Last June, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) released the results of its poll of 1,000 people from each member state on what they think about their working conditions. (Click here for a detailed breakdown of the results.) In general, there’s widespread concern among European citizens that the current economic crisis could adversely affect health and safety at work, putting at risk the improvements that they report having seen over the last five years. But many Europeans also feel well informed about occupational safety and health and consider it an important factor when choosing a new job. Increased pressure on workers According to the opinion poll, 6 out of 10 Europeans expect the global economic downturn to deteriorate working conditions, especially regarding health and safety. And a significant majority of respondents (75%) across Member States believe that ill health is caused at least to some extent by the job that people have. Salary and Job Security Most Important As unemployment increases, people may be more concerned with their immediate job security than with the safety and health of their working conditions. When asked about the deciding factors for choosing a new job, European Union citizens believe that job security and salary level are more important than safe and healthy working conditions, which ranked third in the poll before working hours. Better Information, Improved Health and Safety Conditions The encouraging news is that people within many of the Member States regard themselves as well informed about risks in the workplace and 57% of respondents believe that health and safety at work has improved over the last five years. Gender Differences The opinion poll also reflects gender variations in attitudes towards workplace safety. Male participants regarded salary (61%) and job security (55%) as the most important factor when taking a new job, as compared to lower percentages among female respondents (53% and 51%, respectively). On the contrary, women seem to give more importance to working hours (26%) than men (19%). In addition, more male respondents believe that health and safety conditions have improved over recent years (62%) than their female counterparts (only 52%) and men feel better informed on safety and health matters (71%) than women (61%). For more information on the results of the EU-OSHA poll, including breakdowns of the results by country, go to http://osha.europa.eu/en/statistics/eu-poll.