Poor working conditions cost EUR 24b annually in Finland

Social Affairs and Health Minister Pirkko Mattila on Sunday said that poor working conditions cost approximately EUR 24 billion per year in Finland, said a government press release.

Speaking at an event in Helsinki on the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, the minister expressed optimism to face the challenges in workplaces in future.

“To reach the goal we need to solve the challenges set by future working life. The challenges include, for example, wellbeing at work, constant changes of working life and reconciliation of work and family life”, said Mattila.

The world turns its eyes towards Finland in matters regarding occupational safety and health and wellbeing at work.

Finland is one of the world’s leading countries in developing safety and health at work. This reputation becomes even stronger at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Singapore.

Since 2000 Finland has produced global estimates of accidents at work and of fatal work-related illnesses for the International Labour Organization ILO and the European Union.

The method used by Finland is considered to be the most reliable in the world at the moment. The updated estimates have been made by Senior Officer Päivi Hämäläinen at the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

This is the first time the estimates include data on how much money poor working conditions cost. On Sunday, 3 September, Finland organised its own special event at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.

These costs are one reason why Finland has included health and wellbeing at work into its strategy Working Life 2020. The goal of the strategy is ambitious: the Finnish working life should become the best in Europe by 2020.

In Finland, occupational safety also covers wellbeing at work, in addition to the prevention of work-related illnesses and accidents at work.

Finland is also world famous due to its occupational healthcare, among other reasons, and because matters are agreed on between the central government, employees and employers. Decisions are made based on facts.