Need for better OS&H
In spite of the many advancements made in many countries to improve working conditions and to develop workers' safety and health, we still face a tremendous worldwide need for more effective measures in working life. This is particularly the case in developing countries. According to ILO and WHO estimates, every year more than 1.2 million people die of work-related accidents and diseases, more than 160 million workers fall ill each year owing to workplace hazards, the poorest, least protected individuals - often women, children and migrants - are among those most affected, and micro-enterprises and small enterprises account for over 90 per cent of the businesses where conditions are very deficient and where workers are often outside the scope of labour protection. Considerations such as these indicate the urgent need for joint measures to provide safe and decent working conditions for everyone who takes part in working life. This is the mandate of the ILO. Earlier, in May 1996, the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All. Together, these instruments and organizations create a good basis for further development of working life amidst the process of globalization.
ILO Inter-regional Consultation
In mid-December 1999, the ILO convened an Interregional Consultation on the SafeWork Programme in Geneva. The objectives of the SafeWork Programme are: to develop preventive policies and programmes to protect workers in hazardous occupations and sectors; to extend effective protection to vulnerable groups of workers falling outside the scope of traditional protective measures; to make governments and employers' and workers' organizations better equipped to address problems pertaining to workers' well-being, occupational health services and the quality of working life; and to demonstrate and document the social and economic impact of improving workers' protection in order to facilitate recognition of deficiencies by policy-makers and decision-makers.
The aim of the Consultation was: to advise the ILO InFocus Programme on SafeWork concerning the priorities of the Programme; to propose how the ILO can best provide services and outputs for the Member States, employers and workers worldwide, and to suggest how the ILO can facilitate partnerships and enhance the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the SafeWork Programme in practice.
Altogether 30 experts were invited. They came from various parts of the world, both industrialized and developing countries, and represented government authorities, employers' and workers' organizations, professional associations, research institutions, and so on. The idea was to bring together persons who have ranked occupational safety and health high on their own agenda, the wish being to extend this high prioritization to national and international agendas. The clear conclusion of the Consultation was that there is room for international collaboration, because so many things can be learnt from one another's experiences without having to start from the beginning.
Principles set by the Director-General
Mr. Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO, addressed the participants of the Inter-regional Consultation, dealing in his speech with globalization, its effects on occupational safety and health, and our possibilities to tackle the problems of working life as it undergoes globalization. The world seems to be moving towards open societies and open economies. These trends are good provided that, in the end, they produce well-being for people. He emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration among international organizations, because at present each organization strives to reach its own goals, thus posing the danger that no one of them sees the whole picture. Since globalization is an integrated process, there are no sectoral solutions. In dealing with the problems occurring in working life, Mr. Somavia saw close links to the new ILO SafeWork Programme, as it provides a framework for various organizations - international, national, local - to work together to improve working conditions and occupational safety and health. This will also mean more active participation on the part of relevant actors, whether organizations or individuals.
Over the years, he said, ordinary people have made simple demands from working life. People ask for decent work that enables a stable family life, they want to be treated with respect, and they want a job that, in the end, earns them a reasonable pension.
Conclusions
The Consultation drew several conclusions with regard to implementation of the ILO SafeWork Programme. The central conclusions are presented below.
Political commitment. The political will to grant occupational safety and health a high priority on the national political agenda is needed in all countries. This can be achieved by raising general awareness and by demonstrating to policy-makers and decision-makers that occupational safety and health, in addition to being a value in itself, also promotes the productivity and competitiveness of a nation and its businesses. There is much research evidence supporting the association between investment in safe working conditions and good safety and health of the workers, on the one hand, and the long-term sustainable socioeconomic development of a country, on the other hand.
Raising awareness. In order to improve working conditions and workers' safety and health, awareness of the association between work and health should be raised. More effective information should also be provided concerning the enormous economic loss caused by accidents and diseases, and the positive economic impact of safety and health. Awareness can be raised in several ways, e.g. by means of global campaigns, national occupational safety and health days/weeks, increased utilization of media, guidelines published by organizations under the ILO and the UN, and numerous other actions to make occupational safety and health interesting and attractive to all workers wolrdwide. Raising of awareness will eventually lead to increased interest and to additional pressure on politicians and economic decision-makers to give occupational safety and health a higher priority on the national agenda.
This Newsletter contains the Country News column where examples of raising awareness at the national and country level are published.
Strengthening of the implementation. The ILO Conventions and Recommendations, and the WHO Global Strategy on Occupational Health for All provide good tools for planning and implementing occupational safety and health at the national level. It was, however, concluded that further measures are needed in order to strengthen the ratification and implementation of the ILO Conventions in the Member States, which would lead thereby to the improvement of working conditions. It was also concluded that the present information technologies, and all the information already available, would make it possible to take huge steps in the improvement of working conditions worldwide provided that the exchange of information and provision of technical support are planned systematically.
Technical support at the country level. In order to have a practical impact at the workplace level, technical support is needed. The ILO SafeWork Programme should compile a programme leaflet and Web pages in order to provide the countries, institutions, organizations, and other partners a clear picture of the Programme objectives and goals and to describe various on-going collaborative projects. Mobilization of institutions for occupational safety and health throughout the world should be organized within the framework of the existing networks. The partners could then allocate their contributions to various technical programme elements. This `map' would also make it easier for financers funding various projects to understand the programme and its elements. Through its regular budget, ILO itself should also allocate more funds to the SafeWork Programme. The programme elements should have measurable goals that would be easy to evaluate once the Programme has been terminated. Both bilateral (twinning) and multilateral collaboration projects should be carried out within the SafeWork Programme.
Practical guidelines. Numerous guidelines demonstrating good practices for the management of specific problems and aspects of occupational safety and health are available in various countries. It was recommended that the ILO conduct a survey on the good practices now existing and provide information on these in one of its databases. If published only in national languages, such information could be translated into English. In addition, it was also recommended that some previously unpublished guidelines, e.g. on good practices in occupational safety and health, be prepared and published by the ILO for wide distribution to all constituents.
Education and training. Education and training efforts at all levels are in a key position to provide prerequisites for better occupational safety and health. Educational elements on occupational safety and health should already be included in the learning modules of primary and vocational schools in order to improve the public's general awareness of the relationship between work and health. All the parties of working life - employers, workers, authorities, occupational safety and health experts, researchers, etc. - should be involved in a lifelong learning process, and this process should include occupational safety and health. Because working life changes continuously, labour inspectors need training and new types of competence. The training and education needs of the target groups, and the content of their training, depend on their context of occupations and the branch of industry in question.
Concerted actions for fund-raising and resource mobilization. It was concluded that funds could be mobilized from the World Bank, the IMF, National Workmen's Compensation Funds and insurance companies, social security funds, from development aid agencies, etc. Every major development programme should have a special element on occupational safety and health built into the programme (e.g. road construction, port construction). It might also be possible to mobilize national associations of branches of economy to support the respective branches in developing countries.
Economic appraisal of occupational safety and health. It was concluded that economic appraisal is important, but that occupational safety and health also have a value per se. Demonstration of the economic benefits derived from occupational safety and health activities and from improved work ability and productivity can be used to strengthen occupational safety and health measures as a segment of company strategies. The maintenance and development of work ability, and development of the company in general, is one response to increasing health and safety at work while at the same time enhancing the company's productivity and overall development. It was recommended that positive safety-related examples be compiled so that others can learn from them.
Statistics and information. The ILO has done much to make the accidents statistics more comparable between countries. However, work still remains to be done. Harmonization of the basic safety statistics is an issue worth developing. Statistics is important for decision-makers and policy-makers in prioritizing the preventive measures and actions at the country level. Various forms of information already available in the ILO can be used effectively within the framework of the SafeWork Programme.
Strengthening of existing partnerships and creation of new partnerships. The participation of as many partners as possible, both occupational safety and health-related partners (employers, workers, managers, occupational safety and health experts, authorities, etc.) and non-related (environment, consumer, finance interests, world trade, all parties assisting people in their everyday lives) improves the possibilities to raise the awareness of the general public and to implement the Programme effectively for the benefit of workers, employers and the Member States. Alliances with groups beyond the traditional ILO constituencies, without prejudicing the interest of occupational safety and health, were recommended. The present possibilities for telematic networking of the partners should be used as extensively as possible because, in the long run, they save time and resources, both human and financial.
Research. It was concluded that, despite the availibity of scientific evidence on various occupational safety and health risks and hazards, there is still an urgent need for further research activities. This is because working life is changing continuously, because new exposures and new risks are emerging. This should be organized in a concerted manner with a view to effectively using the limited resources by networking research institutions. More scientifically-based research information is also needed about the effects of efforts to promote occupational safety and health and to maintain work ability. Research institutions throughout the world are invited to contribute to the ILO SafeWork Programme.
Marketing of the ILO SafeWork Programme. The ILO already has numerous materials that can be used to market the ILO SafeWork Programme. It was concluded that each member of the Consultation will act as an ambassador in his/her own country and organization, disseminating information about the SafeWork Programme and its programme elements. The ILO is also encouraged to draw up a marketing plan for the SafeWork Programme.
Financing. Also international financial institutions and national insurance institutions are encouraged to support the Programme financially.
Advisory Committee for the ILO SafeWork Programme. It was concluded that the globalization of working life means an integrated process of developments. Taking into consideration the scarce resources for occupational safety and health everywhere, it is necessary to ensure that the best possible scientific and professional advice is available, that financial resources are used in various programmes in a cost-effective manner, and that advice is provided with regard to the identification of the needs of the Member States. Therefore, it was proposed that a multipartite Advisory Committee be established in order to inform the Member States regularly about the advances, to review the progress of the SafeWork Programme and to plan future activities.
The final and exact wordings of the conclusions will be provided in the Summary Report to be distributed by the ILO in due course.
Suvi Lehtinen
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health
Topeliuksenkatu 41 a A
FIN-00250 Helsinki, Finland
E-mail: Suvi.Lehtinen@occuphealth.fi