As thousands of workers in the EU lose their life every year in work-related incidents, European and Cypriot officials highlighted on Thursday morning, at a conference, in Nicosia, efforts to enhance occupational safety and health across the bloc. Mario Nava, Director-General of the Commission's DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, stressed the need for evidence-based actions, awareness, and for the law to keep apace with change, while William Cockburn, the Executive Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, noted the very high human cost, as well as the "substantial economic cost" estimated at around 3% of GDP. Stelios Himonas, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance noted that non-fatal accidents fell almost 40% in a decade in Cyprus.