Discussion of the contributions to the“risk communication in the workplace” workshop made clear that employees who are affected by workplace risks have limited possibilities to decide on their acceptance of risk. It is thus even more important that risk assessment is based on scientific evidence, as findings can then be translated into legislation. During the establishment of legislation, an open sociopolitical discussion is necessary.

Risk communication in the workplace needs to be understood as a dialogue that also includes the needs and fears of the employees concerned. Occupational physicians play an important role as confidants and should, accordingly, possess knowledge of both the process of risk communication and its methodology.

Furthermore, the discussion also demonstrated the necessity of epidemiological occupational health studies to generate data for assessing demands with a high risk potential for which the effects are still inadequately understood. Existing data must be summarized and evaluated, e.g. in the form of evidence-based guidelines. Based on such evaluation, target group-specific risk communication should be developed and its concrete implementation continuously evaluated.