ILO released a report “A Call for Safer and Healthier Working Environments”
The ILO’s constituents reaffirmed their commitment to the protection of safety and health in June 2022. They decided to include “a safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the only tripartite U.N. agency with government, employer, and worker representatives. It encourages decent employment opportunities and work-related issues.
Key highlights
- In 2019, work-related deaths rose to 2.93 million, a 12% increase from 2000.
- Majority of work-related deaths are caused by work-related diseases e.g., circulatory and respiratory diseases.
- Exposure to long working hours (≥ 55 hours per week) causes most deaths among occupational risk factors.
Challenges highlighted
- Changes in worker demographics, such as age, gender, and migration, impact occupational safety.
- Over 2 billion people (60% of the global workforce) work in the informal economy, lacking adequate legal and social protection.
Report highlights ILO’s Safety + Health for All program, a key vehicle for delivering ILO’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) agenda (see image)
New global strategy on OSH (adopted by ILO Governing Body)
- Aim to promote, and realize the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment worldwide.
- It identifies 3 pillars:
♦ Improving national OSH frameworks
♦ Integrate OSH into national policies and adopt whole-of-government approaches to OSH.
♦ Enhancing workplace OSH management systems.
Safety + Health for All
- Launched in 2015, it focuses on prevention to promote a safe and healthy working environment, which is a fundamental principle and right at work.
- Vision Zero Fund, a G7 initiative and later endorsed by the G20 in 2017, is an integral part of Safety + Health for All.