The number of labour inspections has collapsed across Europe over the last decade, leaving workplaces less prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic.

New ETUC research reveals that safety inspections have been cut by a fifth since 2010, falling from 2.2 million annual visits to 1.7 million.

Inspections have become rarer in at least 17 countries, including in Germany where 232,000 fewer visits were made in 2018 compared to 2010 and Portugal where checks were cut in half over the same period.

That coincided with the loss of over 1,000 labour inspectors available to visit workplaces across the EU. More than a third of European countries no longer meet the ILO’s standard of having one labour inspector per 10,000 workers.

Biggest cuts in the number of labour inspections since 2010:

Portugal: -55%
Malta: -55%
Cyprus: -38%
Romania: -37%
Croatia: -35%

EU: – 18%

Biggest cuts in the number of labour inspectors since 2010:

Romania: -45%
UK: -32%
Portugal: -21%
Ireland: -17%
Estonia: -14%

EU: -7%

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