Occupational safety and health in the digital era

Abstract

The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched the Future of Work (FOW) initiative in 2013, emphasizing the importance of facilitating the creation of decent work and improving social justice globally and in contemporary economies. The dynamics of work organization and control have advanced significantly with the implementation of information and communication technologies at the end of the last century, increasingly occupying socio-occupational spaces in production, distribution and/or consumption. This technological advance ends up inverting relationships, since the machine is no longer an extension of human potential, but assumes a central position, where man is the one who begins to be used by the machine, in the service of capital. The future of work, in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or “Industry 4.0”, has undergone numerous changes imposed by technological progress. According to Schwab (2016), this “fourth wave” stems from a rupture in the digital technologies of the previous revolution, which are becoming more sophisticated and integrated and, consequently, transforming society and the global economy. It is driven by a series of disruptive technologies, that is, innovative technologies capable of causing a sudden transformation in the patterns of models established by the market. The process of flexible accumulation coincides with this technological development, especially in microelectronics. This Revolution differs from previous ones, fundamentally due to the speed of the transformations and the emergence of a new paradigm of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). This new industrial trend will inevitably lead to innovative work organization and a different way of performing work tasks, which may impact the health and safety of the workers involved. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide an overview of these technological metamorphoses and the problematic issues related to workers’ health and safety, providing information on the impact of the fourth Industrial Revolution on the workplace, in terms of practical effects and/or consequences on the main aspects of occupational health and safety.