In France in 2020, one in five people in employment said they had had a health problem in the previous twelve months. For 36% of them, this problem was caused or aggravated by work. Workers in education, human health and, above all, social work appeared to be more concerned than others. They also said that they were more often than others exposed at work to at least one risk factor that could affect their mental well-being. In Europe, workers in these three sectors were also the most affected by work-related health problems, along with those in agriculture and construction. The latter were more often exposed at work to at least one risk factor that could affect their physical health.

These health problems also affected people who had worked but were no longer working: 12% of these former workers aged between 30 and 59 said they had suffered a health problem caused or aggravated by work in the last twelve months, and 6% said they were not working because of this health problem.

This situation was particularly marked among former construction workers. These differences by sector are structural, but 2020 was marked by the Covid-19 epidemic. Construction and agricultural workers were less likely than others to report having been infected during the pandemic, particularly in 2020, whether at work or in the private sphere. At the end of June 2022, education workers were the most likely to report having been infected (70%), half of them having been infected since the emergence of the Omicron variant.