Physical risks and mental health: review of interactions, prevention practices and workplace cases across various sectors

EU-OSHA plans a negotiated middle/low value procurement (OSHA/2026/LVP/0007-EXA) to commission an evidence review and good practice synthesis on interactions between physical risks, psychosocial risks and mental health at work, focusing on high-risk sectors. The contract is a services procurement with a maximum budget of €60,000 excluding VAT and a maximum duration of 10 months. Expressions of interest must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding and Tenders Portal between 17 April 2026 and 5 May 2026, and only organisations or consortia that express interest will be invited to the negotiated tender stage. Applicants must demonstrate relevant recent project experience, specified team profiles including senior academic research and project management capacity, and English language competence for all delivery staff.

What the contract funds

A commissioned evidence review and synthesis analysing interactions between physical risks, environmental working conditions and psychosocial risks, and their implications for workers mental health, safety outcomes and accidents. Deliverables include analysis of pathways and mechanisms, identification of sector and group vulnerabilities, promotion of integrated prevention/risk-management approaches and documentation of workplace good practice examples.

Contract value and duration:Maximum total budget €60,000 (excluding VAT). Maximum contract duration 10 months.

Who can apply

Open to economic operators expressing interest as an individual organisation or a consortium. Invited candidates may only submit joint tenders if they expressed interest as a consortium. Tenderers must demonstrate relevant research and communication experience, English language capacity, and provide CVs for a team including at least one senior academic researcher, a project manager and other research/good-practice experts.

Key administrative points

1. 1Procedure identifier: OSHA/2026/LVP/0007-EXA; planned negotiated low/middle value procedure.
2. 2Expression of interest open: 17/04/2026 — deadline 05/05/2026 00:59 (Europe/Madrid).
3. 3Indicative launch of negotiated procedure: 07/05/2026.
4. 4Submissions of interest via EU Funding & Tenders Portal; EU Login required (2FA becoming mandatory in 2026).

Main contracting authority:European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Main CPV: 73000000 Research and development services and related consultancy services.

Selection and capacity:Tenderers must prove recent similar project experience, capacity to produce accessible guidance for non-technical audiences, and provide detailed CVs showing English (CEF C1) competence and sector-specific expertise ¹.

Further procurement details, technical and professional capacity requirements, and application instructions are available on the EU-OSHA procurement page and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal.

Footnotes

1. 1See the technical capacity and mandatory team profile requirements on the EU-OSHA procurement page linked above for full eligibility and submission documentation.

Summary description

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) plans a negotiated low or middle value procedure to procure expert services to analyse and synthesise evidence on interactions between physical risks, psychosocial risks and mental health at work. The tender supports the Healthy Workplaces Campaign on psychosocial risks and mental health (campaign to be launched in 2026) and focuses on the priority area Physical risks and mental health. The contractor will strengthen the evidence base and practical understanding of combined exposures — physical workload, musculoskeletal disorders, environmental stressors, accidents and psychosocial risks — and how these combined exposures affect workers’ mental health, behaviour, safety outcomes and accident occurrence. The work will identify mechanisms and pathways, highlight sector-, occupation- and group-specific vulnerabilities (with emphasis on micro and small enterprises, migrant, temporary, seasonal and older workers), examine integrated prevention and risk-management approaches, and identify and disseminate workplace-level good practice examples.

Contracting authority:European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA).

Procedure identifier and type:OSHA/2026/LVP/0007-EXA. Planned negotiated procedure for middle/low value contract (publication is an ex ante notice announcing intention to launch the procedure).

Contract type, CPV and duration:Services contract. CPV main classification 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services. Maximum contract duration: 10 months.

Total budget available:Maximum total budget available for the contract to be awarded: €60,000 (excluding VAT).

Specific objectives and scope of work

The tender requests expert services to deliver an evidence review and synthesis and to document workplace good practices. Specific objectives are:

1. 1Analyse current scientific and institutional evidence on interactions between physical risks, environmental working conditions and psychosocial risks and their implications for mental health, safety outcomes and accident occurrence.
2. 2Identify and describe key pathways and mechanisms through which combined exposures (physical workload, musculoskeletal disorders, environmental stressors, accidents and psychosocial risks) influence workers' mental health, behaviour and safety.
3. 3Highlight sector-specific, occupation-specific and group-specific vulnerabilities, with particular attention to micro and small enterprises (MSEs), migrant, temporary, seasonal and older workers.
4. 4Examine and promote integrated prevention and risk-management approaches addressing physical, psychosocial and environmental risks coherently.
5. 5Identify, document and disseminate good practice examples illustrating effective workplace-level prevention strategies and integrated risk management.

Eligibility and how to express interest

Expressions of interest may be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (EU Login account required). Candidates may express interest as an individual organisation or as a consortium. Note: invited candidates can submit a joint tender with other economic operators only if they expressed interest originally as a consortium. Submission of the expression of interest is required to be eligible to participate in the subsequent negotiated procedure.

Key dates for expression of interest and procedure launch:Start date for expression of interest: 17/04/2026 (Europe/Brussels). Deadline for expression of interest: 05/05/2026 00:59 (Europe/Madrid). Indicative date of launch of the negotiated procedure: 07/05/2026 (Europe/Madrid).

Technical and professional capacity requirements

The contracting authority lists minimum technical and professional capacity requirements that the tenderer (or consortium) must demonstrate. These apply to the tenderer as a whole (consolidated capacities of all involved entities will be assessed). Main requirements are:

1. 1Experience drafting information and practical guidance for a non-technical audience related to work-related physical health and mental health.
2. 2At least one similar project (in scope and complexity) completed in the last three years before the tender submission deadline. For each project include start/end dates, total project amount and scope, role and amount invoiced. Client statements may be requested.
3. 3Ability to work in English: all team members delivering services must have at least C1 level (CEF/CEFR) or equivalent; CVs must list at least three English-speaking projects/reports/activities of similar nature per team member.
4. 4Educational and professional qualifications in work-related physical health and mental health and prevention measures; demonstrated research skills and knowledge of European data sources on psychosocial risks and mental health at work.
5. 5Minimum team composition and profiles: at least one senior academic researcher in psychosocial risks and mental health at work (relevant higher education degree and minimum 7 years' professional experience including quantitative and qualitative analysis); at least one project manager with minimum 5 years' demonstrable project management experience in comparable projects; at least one additional team member with minimum 3 years' demonstrable research and good practice guidance experience addressing psychosocial and physical risks and prevention.

The contracting authority requires CVs for all staff who will provide the service, including educational and professional qualifications, intended function in delivery and language skills. Supporting documentation listed for past projects must be provided and may be checked with clients.

Evaluation, consortium rules and form of contract

The planned procedure is a negotiated procedure for a middle/low value contract. This publication is ex ante publicity. Invited candidates will be those who expressed interest. It is possible to participate as a single economic operator or as a consortium; however, organisations intending to tender jointly must have expressed interest as a consortium at the expression of interest stage to be allowed to submit a joint tender later.

Nature of contract and deliverables:Services contract delivering an evidence review and synthesis, identification of mechanisms/pathways, vulnerability analysis, integrated prevention approaches, documented workplace good practices and written outputs suitable to support EU-OSHA campaign activities and communication products.

Administrative, submission and access requirements

Expressions of interest must be submitted electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal; an EU Login account is required. From 30 June 2026, two-factor authentication will be required to access EU Login; candidates are advised to ensure their accounts meet the Portal’s authentication requirements. The method of expression of interest is electronic and submissions must be sent exclusively to the address for submission given in the portal entry. Further procedural rules and participation details are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the EU-OSHA procurement web page.

Eligibility, geographic and beneficiary scope

The contracting authority is EU-OSHA, an EU agency. The procurement notice and portal entry do not list restrictive nationality or geographic eligibility beyond the standard procurement rules applicable to EU agencies — typically economic operators established in the EU and possibly EEA or other states as specified in the procurement documents. Interested parties must consult the full tender dossier and participation rules on the portal or the EU-OSHA procurement page for precise eligibility of countries and legal entities.

Structured extraction of opportunity characteristics

1. 1Eligible Applicant Types: individual organisations and consortia of organisations. Based on technical requirements the call targets research organisations, universities, research institutes, consultancies, SMEs or larger organisations with capacity in occupational safety and health research and communications. Nonprofits or NGOs with relevant expertise may also be eligible if they meet procurement participation rules.
2. 2Funding Type: procurement — services contract (tender). This is not a grant, loan or equity instrument; it is a public procurement for expert services.
3. 3Consortium Requirement: other — expression of interest may be submitted as single or as a consortium. A consortium is permitted but must have been declared as such at expression-of-interest stage to be allowed to tender jointly later.
4. 4Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): EU agency procurement; potential eligibility typically includes economic operators established in EU Member States and possibly EEA or other countries as set out in procurement documents. The published entry does not explicitly list specific eligible countries; consult the tender dossier for exact nationality/establishment requirements.
5. 5Target Sector: occupational safety and health, workplace mental health, psychosocial risks, sectors with high physical workload and accident rates such as health and social care, construction and agriculture (these sectors explicitly referenced), and other high-risk sectors as appropriate.
6. 6Mentioned Countries: none explicitly listed. Region referenced: European Union (EU) and EU-OSHA as contracting authority; portal and procedure use Europe time zones for dates.
7. 7Project Stage: research, evidence synthesis, analysis and knowledge transfer aimed at informing campaign preparation and communication — maturity: research/analysis and dissemination rather than product development or commercialization.
8. 8Funding Amount: maximum contract value €60,000 (excluding VAT).
9. 9Application Type: open call for expression of interest (electronic submission through EU Funding & Tenders Portal) leading to an invitation-only negotiated procedure among those who expressed interest.
10. 10Nature of Support: money — fee-based services contract. Beneficiary (contractor) will receive payment under a services contract (no non-financial services provided by the contracting authority beyond client interaction).
11. 11Application Stages: two main administrative stages: 1) expression of interest (all candidates), 2) invited tender submission in negotiated procedure (invited candidates). Additional internal evaluation steps will follow; overall this is effectively a 2-stage procurement process.
12. 12Success Rates: not specified. As a negotiated procedure with invited candidates, success rates depend on the number of invited and submitted tenders; not provided in the notice.
13. 13Co-funding Requirement: no co-funding required — procurement contract paid up to €60,000. Standard invoicing, VAT rules and contractual terms will apply as per EU-OSHA procurement conditions.

Application templates and documentation

The portal entry and the EU-OSHA procurement page reference technical and professional capacity requirements and state that CVs, lists of relevant projects with details, client statements and other supporting documents must be provided. While the ex ante publication does not provide the full tender templates in-line, it points to the EU-OSHA procurement page for the technical capacity description and to the EU Funding & Tenders Portal for expression-of-interest submission forms. Expected application documents and structure (based on the published requirements):

1. 1Expression of Interest form via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal (electronic).
2. 2Organisational profile and legal identity documents as required by procurement rules (to be specified in tender dossier).
3. 3Project proposal and methodology (to be requested at invitation to tender stage) describing approach to the evidence review, methods for identifying and assessing combined exposures, stakeholder engagement, deliverables and timeline within a 10-month maximum contract period.
4. 4Detailed budget and pricing schedule consistent with €60,000 maximum contract value.
5. 5Consortium agreement or description of consortium partners if expressing interest as a consortium (must have been declared as such at expression-of-interest stage).
6. 6List of similar projects (start/end dates, total project amount and scope, role and amount invoiced) with client references or statements where available.
7. 7CVs of all team members who will provide services, including explicit demonstration of English language competence (C1 or equivalent) and list of at least three English-speaking projects per CV, plus role and relevance.
8. 8Proof of educational and professional qualifications for key staff (degrees/certificates) and evidence of research skills and familiarity with European data sources on psychosocial risks/mental health at work.

Deliverables and expected outputs

While the full tender documents will specify detailed deliverables and milestones, the notice indicates expected outputs will include: a comprehensive evidence review and synthesis; descriptions of mechanisms and pathways; sectoral, occupational and group vulnerability analyses; recommendations and guidance on integrated prevention and risk-management approaches; documented workplace good practice case studies suitable for dissemination in EU-OSHA campaign materials and communication products; and written products in English ready for non-technical audiences.

Assessment and selection criteria (high level)

Selection will assess technical and professional capacity against the published minimum criteria (relevant project experience, team qualifications and language skills). Quality of approach, methodology, past performance, and capacity to deliver within the budget and time limits will be important in the negotiated procedure. Specific evaluation and award criteria and weightings will be provided in the tender dossier when the negotiated procedure is launched.

Relevant links and resources

Primary tender notice on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal and the EU-OSHA procurement page contain the official information and links to the technical and professional capacity requirements and submission mechanism. The EU-OSHA procurement URL for this tender and the technical capacity description is available from the EU-OSHA website EU-OSHA procurement page for OSHA/2026/LVP/0007-EXA. Additional guidance and the expression-of-interest submission form are available on the EU Funding & Tenders Portal entry for procedure identifier OSHA/2026/LVP/0007-EXA Tender on F&T Portal.

Concluding summary

This planned EU-OSHA procurement seeks a qualified research/consultancy team to perform a 10-month evidence review, synthesis and good practice documentation on how physical risks, environmental working conditions and psychosocial risks interact to influence workers' mental health and safety. The contract is a services procurement with a maximum budget of €60,000 (excluding VAT). Eligible applicants include individual organisations or consortia with demonstrable experience in occupational safety and health research, production of practical guidance for non-technical audiences and strong English language capacity. Interested organisations must submit an expression of interest electronically via the EU Funding & Tenders Portal by the stated deadline to be invited to the negotiated tender stage. The work will support EU-OSHA's Healthy Workplaces Campaign and aims to produce actionable messages, sector- and group-specific vulnerability analyses and documented workplace good practices to inform prevention and integrated risk management across sectors such as health and social care, construction and agriculture and other high-risk workplaces.

For full tendering conditions, precise eligibility and evaluation rules, submission templates, and contractual terms consult the EU-OSHA procurement page and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal listing. The technical and professional capacity requirements referenced above are available on the EU-OSHA procurement page and must be followed closely by applicants ¹.

Footnotes

1. 1Technical and professional capacity requirements and procurement details available at EU-OSHA procurement page: osha.europa.eu

Opportunity Overview

The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) is announcing a planned negotiated procedure for a low to middle value contract to provide expert services analysing the interactions between physical risks, psychosocial risks, and mental health at work. This is a planned call for tender (ExA procedure), not yet an active tender. The opportunity supports EU-OSHA's Healthy Workplaces Campaign on mental health and psychosocial risks, with specific focus on high-risk sectors characterised by high physical workload and accident rates.

Funding Details

Maximum Budget:€60,000 (excluding VAT). This is a fixed budget for the entire contract scope.

Contract Duration:Maximum 10 months from contract signature.

Procedure Type:Planned negotiated procedure for middle/low value contract. This is not a competitive open call but a negotiated procedure where EU-OSHA will invite selected candidates to submit tenders.

Contract Classification:Research and development services and related consultancy services (CPV 73000000). Nature of contract: services.

Timeline and Key Dates

Candidates must express interest during the specified window to be invited to tender. Only organisations that have formally expressed interest as either individual entities or consortia will be eligible to submit tenders in the subsequent negotiated procedure.

Scope of Work and Objectives

The contract requires comprehensive analysis and synthesis of evidence on how physical risks, psychosocial risks, and environmental working conditions interact and affect workers' mental health, safety outcomes, and accident occurrence. The work will inform EU-OSHA's communication products and the Healthy Workplaces Campaign.

Existing EU-OSHA reports already cover psychosocial risks in three sectors:health and social care, construction, and agriculture. This contract will extend and deepen the evidence base across additional high-risk sectors.

Specific Contract Objectives

• Analyse current scientific and institutional evidence on interactions between physical risks, environmental working conditions, and psychosocial risks, with implications for mental health, safety outcomes, and accident occurrence
• Identify and describe key pathways and mechanisms through which combined exposures (physical workload, musculoskeletal disorders, environmental stressors, accidents, psychosocial risks) influence workers' mental health, behaviour, and safety
• Highlight sector-specific, occupation-specific, and group-specific vulnerabilities, with particular attention to micro and small enterprises (MSEs), migrant workers, temporary workers, seasonal workers, and older workers
• Examine and promote integrated prevention and risk-management approaches addressing physical, psychosocial, and environmental risks coherently
• Identify, document, and disseminate good practice examples illustrating effective workplace-level prevention strategies and integrated risk management

Eligibility and Participation Rules

Both individual organisations and consortia may express interest. However, organisations that wish to submit a joint tender with other economic operators must have formally expressed interest as a consortium during the expression of interest phase. Candidates cannot change their participation structure after expressing interest.

Expressions of interest must be submitted electronically through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. An EU Login account is required for submission. As of 30 June 2026, two-factor authentication will be mandatory for all EU Login accounts accessing the portal.

Technical and Professional Capacity Requirements ¹

Experience Requirements

Tenderers must demonstrate experience in drafting information and practical guidance for non-technical audiences related to work-related physical health and mental health. At minimum, tenderers must have completed at least one similar project (in scope and complexity) within the three years preceding the tender deadline. The assessment applies to the tenderer as a whole, meaning consolidated capacities of all involved entities will be evaluated.

Tenderers must provide a detailed list of reference projects including start and end dates, total project amounts, scope, role, and amount invoiced. For ongoing projects, only the portion completed during the reference period counts. EU-OSHA may request client statements and contact references directly.

Language Requirements

All team members delivering services must demonstrate capacity to work in English at C1 level (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages) or equivalent. This includes ability to research, communicate, and draft texts in English. Tenderers must provide CVs for all team members with evidence of at least 3 English-language projects, reports, or activities of similar nature, including their role and language skills demonstrated.

Educational and Professional Qualifications

Tenderers must prove educational and professional qualifications in work-related physical health and mental health, including knowledge of practical prevention measures and their effectiveness. Team members must demonstrate relevant research skills and qualifications in social research, particularly in occupational safety and health (OSH) and psychosocial risks/mental health at international level. Demonstrated knowledge of European data sources on psychosocial risks and mental health at work is required.

Minimum Team Composition

The delivery team must include at minimum the following profiles:

• At least one senior academic researcher in psychosocial risks and mental health at work with international academic research experience: relevant higher education degree and minimum 7 years' professional experience in psychosocial risks and mental health at work, including analysis of quantitative and qualitative data
• At least one project manager with minimum 5 years of adequate and demonstrable experience in project management, including overseeing project delivery, quality control, client orientation, and conflict resolution experience in projects of similar complexity
• At least one additional team member with minimum 3 years of adequate and demonstrable experience in research and presenting good practice guidance on addressing work-related psychosocial risks, physical risks, and their prevention at work

Tenderers must provide CVs for all staff who will deliver services, detailing educational and professional qualifications, experience, and intended function in service delivery. The consolidated assessment of combined capacities applies to the entire tenderer team.

Submission and Application Process

Expressions of interest must be submitted exclusively through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal using electronic submission. The portal address for submission is available on the opportunity page. Candidates must have an active EU Login account to submit.

This is a planned call announcement (ExA reference), not an active tender. Organisations expressing interest will be evaluated and invited to submit formal tenders in the subsequent negotiated procedure, expected to launch on 7 May 2026.

Strategic Context and Relevance

This contract aligns with EU policy priorities on mental health at work. Stress, anxiety, and depression constitute the second most common work-related health problem affecting European workers, with approximately 45 percent of workers reporting exposure to risk factors adversely affecting mental health ². An estimated €12 billionworking days are lost annually to anxiety and depression, resulting in approximately USD €1 trillionin lost productivity globally ³.

The EU Framework Directive 89/391/EEC establishes that managing work-related psychosocial risks is a legal imperative for employers, not merely a moral obligation. The EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 identifies key psychosocial risks including excessive workloads, conflicting demands, lack of role clarity, insufficient influence in decision-making, poorly managed organisational change, job insecurity, ineffective communication, inadequate management or colleague support, and harassment or violence ⁴.

Recent evidence from EU-OSHA's Workers' Exposure Survey indicates that nearly half of approximately €100 millionEU workers surveyed were probably exposed to at least one occupational hazard during their last working week, with major gaps in prevention and urgent need for risk reduction measures ⁵. This contract will contribute to closing evidence gaps on combined physical and psychosocial exposures.

Key Considerations for Applicants

• This is a negotiated procedure, not an open competitive call. Only organisations that express interest during the specified window will be invited to tender. Expression of interest is mandatory and binding regarding consortium participation.
• The budget of €60,000 is fixed and relatively modest for the scope of work required. Applicants should carefully assess resource requirements and team composition costs.
• The 10-month maximum duration is tight for comprehensive evidence synthesis across multiple sectors and vulnerable groups. Project management efficiency is critical.
• Strong academic credentials and international research experience in psychosocial risks and mental health at work are essential. The senior researcher requirement specifies minimum 7 years' experience in this specific field.
• Demonstrated capacity to communicate complex occupational health research to non-technical audiences is explicitly required, reflecting EU-OSHA's focus on practical guidance and communication products.
• Knowledge of European data sources on psychosocial risks and mental health at work is a specific requirement, suggesting familiarity with EU-OSHA publications, ESENER survey data, and national occupational health databases.
• The contract explicitly addresses vulnerable worker groups (MSEs, migrant workers, temporary and seasonal workers, older workers), requiring expertise or capacity to analyse intersectional vulnerabilities.
• Consortium participation may strengthen applications by combining complementary expertise (e.g., academic research capacity with practical prevention guidance experience), but must be declared at expression of interest stage.

Contact and Further Information

Detailed technical and professional capacity requirements are available on the EU-OSHA procurement page. The primary opportunity portal is the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. Questions regarding the procedure can be submitted through the portal's Q&A section after logging in with an EU Login account. EU-OSHA helpdesk support is available for technical issues with portal submission.

Footnotes

1. 1Technical and professional capacity requirements are detailed on the EU-OSHA procurement page at EU-OSHA Procurement
2. 2According to EU-OSHA, stress, anxiety, and depression make up the second most common work-related health problem affecting European workers, with nearly 45 percent of workers reporting exposure to risk factors that can adversely affect mental health.
3. 3Research indicates that healthy and safe working conditions promote mental health, wellbeing, performance, and employee commitment. An estimated €12 billionworking days are lost annually to anxiety and depression, leading to approximately USD €1 trillionin lost productivity per year globally.
4. 4The EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2021-2027 identifies the following psychosocial risks: excessive workloads, conflicting demands and lack of role clarity, lack of influence and involvement in decision-making, poorly managed organisational change, job insecurity, ineffective communication, lack of support from management or colleagues, psychological and sexual harassment, and third-party violence.
5. 5EU-OSHA's Workers' Exposure Survey, representing almost €100 millionworkers in the EU across six Member States (Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Hungary, and Finland), shows that nearly half were probably exposed to at least one occupational hazard during their last working week, with major gaps in prevention and urgent measures needed to reduce work-related health risks.