Hello and welcome to the second series of ETIP podcast, Voices from the World of Work.

I am Bianca Luna Fabrice, communications officer at the ETII, and I am the host for this season.

Today I will be joined by senior researcher Paula Franklin from the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Unit.

Before getting to the questions, let me just tell you a little bit more about Paula.

Paula holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Surrey and a postdoc from the University of Durham. In addition to her work

at the ATUI, Paula is also a member of the WHO Europe Scientific Advisory Board. Thank you so much,

Paula, for joining us today. Thank you very much, Bianca. I'm very happy to be discussing with you

this very important issue of occupational safety and health in the

healthcare sector. This episode will be centered mainly around Paula's recently published policy

brief on the effects of COVID-19 and the healthcare sector. And you can find such policy brief

at ETUI.org slash publications. Paula, perhaps could you shed some light on why you decided to write this piece?

Well, it was during the lockdown in the spring in Brussels when I kept clapping hands

at 8 o'clock in the evening on my balcony as a display of solidarity with the healthcare workers,

while also following the rolling coverage of the working conditions of health workers,

and the reports of them getting ill and even dying.

And it really made me wonder how we can be in this situation

and fail in protecting the workers who are the essential workers for our society every day,

not only during the pandemic. And this is what prompted the brief analysis of occupational

safety and health and the working conditions more broadly in the healthcare sector.

Could you perhaps tell us what are the main takeaways of your publication? Well, first of all, it's important that all health workers have health and safety protection and decent working conditions.

So this includes the many different occupational groups that work at hospitals, but also in the communities. The second point is that

it's really important to acknowledge the psychosocial risks of health and care work and strengthen

...