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World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2023

28th April 2023

Implementing a safe and healthy working environment: Where are we now asks the International Labour Organisation

In June 2022, the International Labour Conference (ILC) decided to include “a safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work.

On 28 April 2023, the ILO will celebrate this decision, bringing together experts and constituents to discuss the implications it has for the world of work, as well as how to practically implement this right in the world of work.

It will also serve to present the findings of research on the implementation status of various provisions of the fundamental Conventions No. 155 and No. 187.

The research report provides information on the global implementation status of some of the key provisions contained in the fundamental Conventions stated above.

The report analyses some of the key provisions from the fundamental Conventions on occupational safety and health (OSH) including:

• a national authority responsible for OSH and a national tripartite body on OSH;

• the OSH legal framework and the inclusion of key provisions (e.g. workers’ right to remove themselves from a dangerous work situation without undue consequences, the requirement to establish joint OSH committee at the workplace level, a mechanism for ensuring collaboration between management and workers);

• The development of a national policy and a national programme on OSH;

• The establishment of a national recording and notification system for occupational accidents and diseases.

Part of the report's introduction refers to the principles embodied in the conventions on healthy and safe workplaces as a right:

The inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work calls attention to the mutually reinforcing nature of all such principles and rights. Lack of adequate OSH conditions are particularly pronounced in populations with deficiencies in other fundamental principles and rights at work.

There is a need for synergic actions to improve OSH conditions in hazardous sectors or those hidden from public scrutiny, where also the prevalence of forced labour and hazardous child labour is often higher.

The promotion of freedom of association is necessary to ensure the meaningful involvement of the social partners in the formulation and implementation of national OSH policies and programmes, at all levels. Such policies and programmes should integrate the needs of all groups of workers and address inequalities in OSH practice, ensuring equal access to safe and healthy working environments, occupational health services and healthcare, in order to promote decent work for all workers.

On the implementation status in countries within the ILO, the report says:

Some 73 per cent of ILO Member States have provisions in national legislature for the establishment of workplace OSH committees.

Of the countries that have ratified Convention No. 155, 80 per cent have legal provisions for establishing workplace OSH committees; however, of the countries that have not ratified the Convention, only 68 per cent have provisions in law for workplace committees.

Based on detailed sub-regions (figure 7), all countries in Central America, Eastern Asia, Northern America and Western Europe allow workplace OSH committees. However, in the Caribbean, the Pacific Islands and the non-GCC Arab States, less than half of countries have workplace committees.

This share was lowest for the non-GCC Arab States, in which only 20 per cent of Member States have such committees. Some 85 per cent of high-income countries have workplace committees, while only 67 per cent of lowincome countries have them. For high-income countries, 92 per cent of countries that have ratified Convention No. 155 have workplace committees, compared to 76 per cent of countries that have not ratified the Convention.

The World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2023 global dialogue will explore how to implement a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work. 

The event, How can we promote the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment? takes place on Friday, 28 April 2023 at 12:30 until 14:00

Source: ILO / Hazards Campaign

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