Workplace Health at a Turning Point: Reflections from the EKAS Conference at Migros

Workplace Health at a Turning Point: Reflections from the EKAS Conference at Migros

Workplace health and safety in Europe is changing — not in sudden leaps, but through a steady shift in how organizations think about the responsibilities and systems behind it.
This was particularly visible at the recent EKAS conference hosted by Migros, where we took part with leaders from some of Switzerland’s largest companies.

What emerged was a shared understanding that the structures behind health and safety need to evolve.

1. From isolated actions to systemic thinking

Many organizations are beginning to move beyond traditional measures such as training sessions, checklists, or ad-hoc adjustments to workstations.

Instead, they are asking deeper questions:

• How is work physically distributed across shifts and roles?
• Which tasks generate cumulative strain rather than isolated risks?
• Where do human limitations and operational pressures collide?

This shift signals a change in maturity:
health is no longer treated as a downstream function, but increasingly as a lens through which operational decisions are evaluated.

2. The demand for earlier, clearer insight

Another theme reflected a growing recognition:
organizations need insight earlier in the process.

Companies are looking for ways to:

• understand exposure
• create transparency across teams
• align decisions between HSE, HR, and operations
• evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in measurable terms

This is not simply a move toward data.
It is a move toward consistency.

Across industries, comparable insight is becoming a fundamental requirement — for planning, compliance, and long-term workforce sustainability.

3. Health as part of strategy, not an appendix

Health and safety has an expanding role in broader business strategy.

Demographic pressure, physical demands, labor shortages, and rising expectations from employees mean that:

• workforce health affects staffing stability
• physical sustainability influences productivity
• modern health expectations shape employer reputation
• and regulatory scrutiny is increasing

Companies are beginning to see workplace health not as a cost center, but as a foundation for operational resilience.

4. Technology as an enabler

Leaders are looking for:

• clarity
• reliability
• integration
• and support for existing processes

The role of technology is to amplify human expertise, not to replace it — and to provide organizations with a level of visibility that traditional approaches cannot reach alone.

Conclusion

The EKAS conference at Migros offered a glimpse into a broader shift taking place across Europe:
Workplace health is moving from the periphery of organizational attention to its structural core.

The future conversations will likely not revolve around specific tools or standards, but around:

• how we design work
• how we understand strain
• how responsibilities are shared
• and how organizations create environments where people can perform sustainably

This is the lens through which workplace health will need to be viewed in the years ahead — and the dialogue in Switzerland shows that this transition has already begun.

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