Researchers from KU Leuven, ULiège, ULB and VUB analyzed the data collected for our country by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound). The 2021 survey was conducted in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic between March and November 2021. Nearly 4,000 people were interviewed by phone.

In general, it appears that the surveyed risks at work have increased compared to 2015, but that the quality of employment has improved at the same time. For example, there are more permanent contracts and career opportunities. The researchers also note an improvement in participation and a marked increase in worker representation. The health of the employees then declines.

Nearly a quarter (24 percent) of employees reported that their job often or always involves painful or tiring postures. 18 percent often or always have to carry or move heavy loads. Almost one in ten (9 percent) often or always has to lift or move people. More than half of the Belgian respondents reported that they suffer from muscle pain in the shoulders, back or upper limbs (56 percent) and from back pain (51 percent). Nearly half suffered from headaches or eyestrain (48 percent). Another third (34 percent) experienced lower extremity pain.

7 percent said they felt sometimes or not at all well in the two weeks before the survey. The number of employees who reported being the victim of harassment, bullying or violence in the year before the survey tripled to 9 percent compared to 2015. 11 percent experienced verbal abuse or threats in the month before the survey , 2 percent with unwanted sexual attention. Job insecurity plays an important role in psychosocial risks at work, but it appears to have dropped from 15 percent in 2015 to 11 percent in 2021.