Safe and Healthy Green Jobs
Challenges and Opportunities
Abstract
The green transition builds on a change to fossil-free energy and to a circular economy. In a European context, the major policy initiative is the Green Deal. While this transition needs to be rapid, gains and losses of jobs need to be considered. This may have profound positive and negative effects for different occupational groups as greening of the jobs may both eliminate current risks (e.g. associated with fossil fuels), and introduce new ones. This article provides examples of such risks to occupational safety and health. It also discusse employment conditions and worker bargaining power in relation to the twin digital and green transition. In order to reduce negative effects of the green transition on the health and safety of workers, we suggest that there is an urgent need to establish strategies for Safe and Healthy Green Jobs. We proceed tosuggest steps towards such a Roadmap, and also indicate some key knowledge gaps.
Keywords
Green Deal, job gains and losses (eller Creative destruction?), occupational safety and health, circular economy, chemical health risks, twin transition, road-map for safe and healthy green jobs
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