Development and Outlook of Occupational Medicine in Slovenia

The European Society for Occupational Medicine notes that numerous differences exist between EU members regarding their policies associated with occupational health and safety; one of the reasons for this is the historical variety of approaches. If we wish to unify our occupational health and safety systems, we thus need a common, unified policy and a common European training programme. The key challenges that European occupational medicine will be facing in the future are as follows: globalization, presentism, aging of the workforce, inter-generational cooperation, stress and workplacerelated burnout (mental disorders), musculoskeletal diseases (especially various types of dorsalgia), occupational injuries, work following a prolonged absence from the workplace, occupational disability, occupational rehabilitation, the impact of work on the private life and vice-versa, outsourcing, self-employment, precarious employment, prolongation of working life, encouragement of healthy living after retirement, etc. The European Society for Occupational Medicine thus proposes that the new common strategy include a list of priorities and objectives with timelines and that it anticipate collaboration between all stakeholders (workers, employers, experts and the government), while occupational medicine practitioners must become the workers’ (impartial) advisers regarding workplace risks (total professional impartiality).