IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ipt/laedte/202403.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Digitalisation and workers wellbeing: The impact of digital technologies on work-related psychosocial risks

Author

Listed:
  • Ignacio González Vázquez

    (European Commission – JRC)

  • Maurizio Curtarelli

    (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA))

  • Ioannis Anyfantis

    (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA))

  • Emmanuelle Brun

    (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA))

  • Annick Starren

    (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA))

Abstract

This paper examines the psychosocial risks associated with the digital transformation of work, focusing on the automation of tasks, digitalisation of work processes, and the platformisation of work. It highlights that while automation and digitalisation can offer ergonomic and occupational safety and health benefits, they may also diminish worker autonomy and increase mental health risks. The adoption of digital technologies can improve communication and engagement but may lead to intensified workloads and can incentivise an 'always-on' culture. Platform work, with its precarious employment conditions, can also exacerbate occupational safety and health risks. The paper also argues that the spread of platform-like worker monitoring and algorithmic management to traditional workplaces can exacerbate certain psychosocial risks. The paper confirms that addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that includes worker consultation, integration of OSH considerations from the design phase, and a holistic risk assessment that considers both technological and organisational contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Ignacio González Vázquez & Maurizio Curtarelli & Ioannis Anyfantis & Emmanuelle Brun & Annick Starren, 2024. "Digitalisation and workers wellbeing: The impact of digital technologies on work-related psychosocial risks," JRC Working Papers on Labour, Education and Technology 2024-03, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:laedte:202403
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC138992
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ipt:laedte:202403. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Publication Officer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ipjrces.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.