Greater coordination and harmonisation of European occupational cohorts is needed

Paid employment is an essential component of adult life and a major determinant of health. However, underemployment, long-term unemployment, poor working conditions and a lack of job security all negatively affect health, may hinder economic growth and further increase inequalities in the population. Occupational exposures are related to a significant proportion of diseases including cancer, cardiorespiratory diseases and musculoskeletal and mental disorders, among others.1 The demographic shift, with an ageing and increasingly diverse workforce, makes the impact of work on healthy ageing and disease prognosis a key issue. Rapid changes in employment patterns and exposures along with occupational restructuring and the increasing use of new technologies further increase the importance of research in occupational health.2

Europe currently has some of the most valuable occupational, industrial and population cohorts for aetiological research worldwide. However, relatively limited sample sizes of individual studies and lack of data harmonisation have...

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