Labour identification cards and their use for occupational safety and health

DISCUSSION PAPER LABOUR IDENTIFICATION CARDS AND THEIR USE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH 1 Introduction This discussion paper is part of the research programme ‘Supporting OSH Compliance’ that the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) initiated in 2020 (Improving compliance with OSH regulations | Safety and health at work EU-OSHA). The main objective of this programme is to provide high-quality data to researchers and policymakers to better understand how to support occupational safety and health (OSH) compliance and to better inform policies. This discussion paper is an example of how initiatives carried out at a sectoral level (construction sector) can contribute to support OSH compliance. Labour ID cards are an individual certification tool containing visible and usually also digitally stored data with the aim to attest that requirements are met by the employer and/or the worker (Briganti et al., 2015; Møller & Pilmark, 2023; Williams, 2022). These cards are intended to improve transparency, control working conditions and limit undeclared work. In addition, there is an interest in what labour ID cards may mean to the OSH area. The construction sector is characterised by temporary workplaces where many stakeholders collaborate on planning, demolishing, constructing or renovating often complicated structures, involving multiple employers and professional groups. Workers in the construction sector have various types of...