Background: We aimed to summarise the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement among people with MS and analyze data according to a spatio-temporal perspective. Methods: We undertook a systematic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, SciVerse ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. We included any peer-reviewed original article reporting the prevalence of unemployment and early retirement in the working-age population with MS. We excluded articles off-topic, with other study designs, whose study sample were unlikely to be representative of the MS population and in case of unavailability of the full text or essential information. A random-effects meta-analysis was used to measure overall prevalence estimates of unemployment and early retirement. We used meta-regression and subgroup analysis to evaluate potential moderators of prevalence estimates and the leave-one-out method for sensitivity analyses. Results: Our research identified 153 studies across 29 countries encompassing 188436 subjects with MS. The pooled overall effect size for unemployment and early retirement was 35.6% (95% CI 32.8–38.4; I² = 99.31) and 17.2% (95% CI 14.6–20.2; I² = 99.13), respectively. The prevalence of unemployment varied according to the year of publication (p < 0.001) and there was a statistically significant decrease in the prevalence of unemployment over time (p = 0.042). Regarding early retirement, only seven (31.8%) estimates obtained from studies that were published before 2010 were below the overall effect size in comparison to 27 (60.0%) estimates extracted from data published between 2010 and 2021 (p = 0.039). There was a significant difference in prevalence according to countries (p < 0.001). Psychiatric illness was an important clinical feature responsible for patients leaving the workforce in regions with a high MS prevalence. Conclusions: Unemployment and early retirement due to MS remain highly prevalent, despite a slight decline in the last decade. The prevalence of unemployment and early retirement varies globally.

Young workers are in particular need of occupational safety and health (OSH) services, but it is unclear whether they have the necessary access to such services. We compared young with older workers in terms of the access to and awareness of OSH services, and examined if differences in employment conditions accounted for age-differences. We used survey data from Italy (INSuLA 1, 2014), with a sample of 8000 employed men and women aged 19 to 65 years, including 732 young workers aged under 30 years. Six questions measured access to services, and five questions assessed awareness of different OSH issues. Several employment conditions were included. Analyses revealed that young workers had less access and a lower awareness of OSH issues compared with older workers. For instance, odds ratios (OR) suggest that young workers had a 1.44 times higher likelihood [95%—confidence interval 1.21–1.70] of having no access to an occupational physician, and were more likely (2.22 [1.39–3.38]) to be unaware of legal OSH frameworks. Adjustment for selected employment conditions (company size, temporary contract) substantially reduced OR’s, indicating that these conditions contribute to differences between older and younger workers. We conclude that OSH management should pay particular attention to young workers in general and, to young workers in precarious employment, and working in small companies in particular.

This study aimed to identify sensitive and noninvasive biomarkers of early cyto-genotoxic, oxidative and inflammatory effects for exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in shipyard painters. On 17 (11 spray and 6 roller) painters (previously characterized for VOCs exposure to toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene, ethyl acetate) and on 18 controls, we performed buccal micronucleus cytome (BMCyt) assay; Fpg-comet assay on lymphocytes; detection of urinary 8-oxoGua (8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine), 8-oxodGuo (8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine) and 8-oxoGuo (8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine), and cytokines release on serum. We found induction of cyto-genotoxicity by BMCyt assay and inflammatory effects (IL-6 and TNFα) in roller painters exposed to lower VOC concentrations than spray painters. In contrast, in both worker groups, we found direct and oxidative DNA damage by comet assay (with slightly higher oxidative DNA damage in roller) and significant increase of 8-oxoGuo and decrease of 8-oxodGuo and 8-oxoGua in respect to controls. The cyto-genotoxicity observed only on buccal cells of roller painters could be related to the task’s specificity and the different used protective equipment. Although limited by the small number of subjects, the study shows the usefulness of all the used biomarkers in the risk assessment of painters workers exposed to complex mixtures.

Objectives: Occupational medicine is a discipline continually evolving in response to technological advances, changes in workplaces and production processes, emergence of new occupational risks and diseases and modifications in regulatory framework for occupational health and safety. Therefore,...

In recent years, algorithmic management (ALMA) systems have spread rapidly from platform work to more traditional sectors such as logistics, retail, and healthcare (1, 2). Defined as “the use of complex digital systems or AI [artificial intelligence] to manage workers” (3) and encompassing the semi- and fully automated execution of managerial functions such as scheduling, goal setting, and performance evaluation (4), ALMA is profoundly reshaping how work is organized and monitored. Building on recent discussions in this journal on digitalization and occupational health (eg, 5), this editorial examines how ALMA is transforming working conditions and power dynamics and considers its implications for workers’ health and well-being in changing work environments. A review of the literature up to 2022 (6) synthesized emerging evidence on how ALMA affects job quality and worker health in platform work, highlighting psychosocial risks such as intensified workload, irregular and unpredictable working hours with unpaid waiting times, reduced decision authority, and social isolation. In other words, ALMA can recalibrate the balance between job demands and resources in ways that heighten psychosocial risks. Examined in the light of established models of psychosocial risk (7) – such as the Job Demands–Resources model (8, 9), the Job Demand–Control–Support model (10,11), and the Effort–Reward Imbalance model (12,13) – these prior findings suggest that ALMA can create conditions that trigger classic risk pathways in which job demands exceed available resources, leading to stress, burnout, and related health outcomes. However, ALMA is not inherently detrimental. A growing body of research emphasizes that ALMA is not just a technical system, but a socio-technical process shaped by organizational contexts and human decisions (1, 4, 14). Thus, ALMA`s implications for work and workers depend not only on technical features but also, for instance, how and for what purpose the systems are used. When designed with transparency, fairness, and the opportunity for human influence over the system (4), the harmful effects of ALMA might be mitigated. Some researchers have even underscored the dual effect of ALMA, noting that algorithmic systems can both constrain and enable autonomy and value to workers depending on their design (15). However, evidence for positive outcomes remains limited and largely theoretical (4). While some studies have pointed to potential benefits for workers, such as increased flexibility in deciding working hours, these are often accompanied by new forms of control (16). This editorial builds on a structured (non-systematic) literature review conducted within the PEROSH network (3), which followed a systematic search process and was visualized according to PRISMA 2020 reporting principles (17). The review synthesized findings from 39 studies (published 2022–2024) on the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) implications of ALMA, covering both traditional and platform work. While the resulting report itself was not peer-reviewed, it draws exclusively from high-quality empirical sources (33 peer-reviewed scientific studies and 6 grey literature reports) and was developed by a team of researchers across multiple European institutions (3). Based on the review, we argue that ALMA is not merely a digital enhancement of existing managerial practices. Rather, it constitutes a novel form of work organization that shifts managerial decision-making from humans to algorithms, thereby reshaping the psychosocial work environment and redistributing power, control, and responsibility. The following sections summarize the key findings of our review, discuss their implications for policy and practice, and outline research priorities to ensure that ALMA supports rather than undermines workers’ health and well-being. Key findings of the review The ALMA-AI project’s review indicated that the use of ALMA systems frequently leads to excessive job demands while simultaneously reducing key job resources needed to manage those demands. This imbalance shapes working conditions in ways that heighten psychosocial pressures and increase the risk of adverse OSH outcomes. In the ALMA-AI report, these patterns were identified and subsequently structured into both quantitative and qualitative studies, spanning across platform work and traditional workplaces. Intensification of job demands Quantitative analyses conducted in platform work settings consistently show that ALMA systems generate psychosocial – particularly time – pressures that significantly elevate work-related stress levels (eg, 18–21). Time pressure as a job demand was also referred to in qualitative studies that identified excessive workloads as a recurrent feature of ALMA across various platform sectors (eg, 22, 23). In some accounts, workers even described how these heightened demands made them feel “exploited” (24). Similar findings were highlighted in an ILO report, where the intensification of work appeared to be directly linked to the use of monitoring systems (25). Depletion of job resources The review showed that the negative impact of ALMA on OSH is often exacerbated when these systems undermine key job resources; a pattern observed particularly when ALMA is used as a control mechanism. Such effects include reduced autonomy (26) and diminished social support, manifested for instance as limited time to interact with co-workers (25). ALMA often imposes standardized workflows, reducing opportunities for worker discretion (27). The loss of autonomy is especially pronounced when algorithms are perceived as opaque (26) or used to impose strictly timed or closely monitored tasks (28). Some of the reviewed studies also reported that workers frequently feel excluded from decision-making processes surrounding the introduction and use of ALMA systems (eg,...

In the framework of a collaboration between INAIL and University of Salento, an indoor radon survey in 54 buildings belonging to the UniSalento University (Southeast Italy) was carried out. The monitored buildings differ by type, construction period, materials, etc., and are located in an area with a morphology characterized mainly by marls, calcareous marls, and calcarenites (karst area). The sample of the survey includes 963 rooms at different floors: it consists in rooms mainly located at ground floor (67%), first floor (12%), and below ground (12%). SSNTD passive dosimeters measured the average radon activity concentration for two consecutive semesters (spring/summer and autumn/winter) from which annual radon averages were estimated for each room. The spatial variability within buildings was investigated in terms of variation between floors and among rooms at the same floor. Data analysis provides evidence that the distributions (in terms of arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, and geometric mean) of indoor radon annual averages at ground floor and at first floor within building are very similar. This highlights that the karstic characteristics of soil and building materials affect radon levels not only below ground and at ground floor, but also at first floor. Moreover, to evaluate the spatial variability of radon among buildings or floors, the analysis of the distribution of coefficient of variation (CV) was carried out: the results show a low spatial variability with median and average values of CVs ≤ 30% both for the whole building and at different floor levels.