Health and Safety and Organising – A guide for reps, TUC and related interactive guide for union reps (you may need to register to access this resource).
Organising for OHS, Hazards website.
Category Archives: News
Global: la organización en favor de la salud y la seguridad –una parte crucial de la acción sindical
2023 será un año clave para los sindicatos y para los trabajadores y las trabajadoras. El año pasado conseguimos que se reconociera que un entorno laboral seguro y saludable es un derecho de los trabajadores. Esto ha dado un nuevo impulso a la organización en favor de la salud y la seguridad –una parte crucial de la acción sindical–. La Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración de los Trabajadores Fallecidos y Lesionados, el 28 de abril, está dedicada este año a esta prioridad sindical fundamental.
Owen Tudor, secretario general adjunto de la CSI.
Boletín de la CSI – Febrero 2023.
Global: l’organisation des travailleurs en faveur de la santé et de la sécurité – un volet primordial de l’action syndicale
2023 sera une année cruciale pour les syndicats et pour les personnes qui travaillent. L’année dernière, nous avons obtenu qu’un environnement de travail sûr et sain soit reconnu comme un droit pour les travailleurs. Cette reconnaissance a donné un nouvel élan à l’organisation des travailleurs en faveur de la santé et de la sécurité – un volet primordial de l’action syndicale. Cette année, la Journée internationale de commémoration des travailleurs décédés et blessés, le 28 avril, sera dédiée à cette priorité syndicale essentielle.
Owen Tudor, secrétaire général adjoint de la CSI.
Bulletin d’information de la CSI – Février 2023.
Global: Organising for health and safety – a crucial part of union action
2023 will be a key year for trade unions and working people. Last year, we secured recognition that a safe and healthy work environment is a right for workers. This has given a new impetus to organising for health and safety – a crucial part of union action. This year’s Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28 is dedicated to this core union priority.
Owen Tudor, ITUC deputy general secretary.
ITUC newsletter, 6 February 2023.
Global: Graphic resources for 28 April – #iwmd23
USA: Are you ready for Workers’ Memorial Week 2023?
In April, we will say their names.
The names of the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters who are killed each year in U.S. workplaces. Sadly, we can’t say all of them because there are too many.
At least 5,000 U.S. workers die each year from acute workplace trauma, like drowning in a trench or falling from a height. And nearly 100,000 more die from long-term exposure to highly hazardous working conditions, like repeated exposure to toxic chemicals.
We all know that behind the devastating statistics about worker deaths are real people who leave behind grieving families and shattered co-workers. Their lives will be honored with vigils, rallies, memorial services and other events during Workers’ Memorial Week this year from April 23 through April 30th.
When we say the names of workers who can and should have gone home safely, we want to make sure we are heard loud and clear. By families who deserve better. By workers who can join together to improve their workplaces. By opinion leaders and policymakers who can make a difference.
In solidarity,
Jessica E. Martinez and Marcy Goldstein-Gelb
Co-executive directors, National COSH
Global: IWMD 2022 – 105 BWI affiliates in 50 countries call to recognise OHS as a fundamental right
To commemorate this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day, BWI-affiliated trade unions once again raised their voices to persuade the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to recognise health and safety as a fundamental right.
Through meetings with workers, nationwide tours on occupational health and safety (OHS), press conferences, OHS training workshops and social media use for campaigning, 105 BWI-affiliated unions from 50 countries took part in the global union’s month-long IWMD campaign.
Some of the highlights of BWI affiliates’ various IWMD actions worldwide were:
- The action by the Belgian affiliate ACV where more than 1,000 ACV activists and staff members visited nearly 15,000 industry workers in the spread of more than 2,000 sites. The trade union took advantage of the opportunity to give workers good advice on health and safety.
- In South Korea, KFCITU opened a union hotline for the reporting of dangerous work, and held various rallies to support disclosure of serious accidents and occupational diseases. It also held a memorial ceremony on the second anniversary of the Han Express Accident (29 April)
- In Montenegro, the Association of Occupational Safety and Health of Montenegro awarded Nenad Markovic, President of the Trade Union of Construction and Industry of Building Materials of Montenegro (SGIGMCG), for his union’s exemplary contribution to the promotion of occupational health and safety.
- In Zimbabwe, the affiliates CLAWUZ, ZCATWU and GAPWUZ organised an Occupational Safety and Health Workshop on IWMD. During the workshop, participants shared their OHS experiences, discussed the key principles and aims of OHS, and highlighted the various types of occupational hazards.
- In Brazil, BWI affiliates, together with other trade unions and government organizations, launched a book titled “Rosca sem Fim: Basta de mortes, acidentes e doenças do trabalho.”
- BWI’s youth affiliates celebrated IWMD 2022 by once again carrying the theme “life before profit.” This was led by young trade unionists from FILCA CSIL (Italy), SERBUK (Indonesia), CMWEU (Mauritius), FOCRA (Argentina), STICC POA (Brasil) and INTERGREMIAL (Colombia), among many others. The youth section of BYGGNADS released a video commemorating the 44 workers who lost their lives in 2021 to work-related accidents. Meanwhile, an OHS exhibit was mounted by CMWEU young unionists in Mauritius near a monument in Rose Hill to honour of workers.
Labour inspections and workplace sensitisation activities were also held at construction projects in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Turkey, Tajikistan, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, El Salvador, Brazil and Argentina to ensure safety, hygiene and health measures are taken at worksites.
The big presence of BWI affiliates on conventional and social media is also worth mentioning. Such presence ensured BWI’s messages were conveyed far and wide and further stressed the importance of this year’s International Labour Conference (ILC) to declare OSH as a fundamental right.
To cap the campaign, BWI recognised the achievement of its affiliates in gathering signed joint OHS declarations with different construction, building materials and wood companies and employers’ associations. In total, over 450 OHS declarations have now been signed covering over 483,000 employers, and 18 million workers.
Source: BWI
Fiji: Minister Launches National OHS Plan
Fiji’s Ministry of Employment in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services has implemented a five-year Occupational Health Service Strategic Plan.
The partners include employers’ and unions’ representatives, international partners, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and World Health Organisation (WHO).
“My Ministry in collaboration with the tripartite National OHS Advisory Board has already endorsed the process to ratify ILO Convention 161 on Occupational Health Services, ILO Convention 187 on the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health, and ILO Convention 162 on the elimination of asbestos,” said Parveen Kumar Bala, the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations.
Source: Fiji Sun
Europe: Workers’ Memorial Day – 30,000 more preventable workplace deaths expected by 2030
Almost 30,000 people may lose their lives at work in the EU over this decade without action to make workplaces safer, trade unions are warning on International Workers’ Memorial Day.
The number of fatal workplace accidents fell slowly over of the last decade, although progress was far from steady with deaths rising again in 2019, according to Eurostat data.
Another 27,041 workplace deaths should be expected between 2020 and 2029 if change continues at the same pace as during the last decade, an analysis by the European Trade Union Institute has found (see Notes below).
Workplace deaths are not expected to fall at all in Spain, are set to get even worse in France and wouldn’t end in Europe for more than 30 years. They could though be ended by 2030 if the political will existed.
Number of workplace deaths expected this decade and year in which fatal workplace accidents will be eliminated in selected member states if 2010-2019 trends continue:
Poland: 563 deaths – 2027
Portugal: 481 deaths – 2030
Romania 1,451 deaths – 2036
Austria: 694 deaths – 2037
Italy: 3,434 deaths – 2042
Germany: 3,143 deaths – 2044
Czechia: 851 deaths – 2052
France: 7,803 deaths – Never
Spain: 3,191 deaths – Never
EU27: 27,041 – 2055
The findings come as the European Trade Union Confederation launches a manifesto for zero death at work which calls on European leaders to “walk the walk” as well as “talk the talk” on saving the lives of working people.
The manifesto – which has been signed by Ministers, MEPs, trade union leaders and top occupational health and safety experts – called for an increase in workplace health and safety training, inspections and penalties to end workplace fatalities by 2030.
Half a million fewer workplace safety inspections are taking place across Europe now than at the start of the last decade, the ETUC’s analysis of International Labour Organisation data has found.
As well as workplace accidents, the ETUC are also calling on EU leaders to do more to end the scandal of cancer, which still takes the lives of over 100,000 people every year, as well as protecting workers from increasing extreme weather events caused by climate change.
ETUC Deputy General Secretary Claes-Mikael Stahl said:
“Nobody should leave home worried about whether or not they will make it back to see their family after work. But that’s the daily reality for many workers, often because of irresponsible employers cutting corners to increase profits and politicians who attack common sense safety rules and inspections for ideological reasons.
“Thousands of people are still losing their lives every year in brutal – and avoidable – accidents on construction sites, in factories and at other workplaces. Millions of people have also died after being exposed daily to cancer-causing substances at work.
“While workplace deaths might seem like something from another century, these tragedies are set to keep happening in Europe for at least another 30 years. That isn’t inevitable though.
“On International Workers’ Memorial Day, we remember the dead and vow to fight for the living. If politicians are willing to act, we could achieve zero deaths at work by 2030. It’s high time the lives of working people were made a priority.”
Notes
Projection based on the European statistics on accidents at work database (ESAW), linear regression was used to predict the number of fatal accidents at work in the years to come. The number of fatal accidents at work were predicted separately for a selection of Member States, and for EU27 as a whole. For EU27, time predicted yearly fatal accidents with R² = .63, F(1, 7) = 11.7, p = .01.
Source: ETUC
The Americas: 28 de abril, la CSA apoya su incorporación como derecho fundamental del trabajo
La Confederación Sindical de trabajadoras y trabajadores de las Américas (CSA), en el marco del Día Mundial de la Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo (SST), refuerza la importancia de la concientización sobre esta temática, recuerda a los/as trabajadores/as fallecidos/as y enfermas/os producto del trabajo y promueve la iniciativa de incorporar a la SST dentro de los Derechos y Principios Fundamentales de la OIT.
De acuerdo con el informe de la OIT “Fomentar el diálogo social para una cultura de seguridad y salud”, cerca de 2,9 millones de trabajadores y trabajadoras mueren anualmente debido a accidentes y enfermedades en el trabajo y alrededor de 402 millones sufren lesiones no mortales. La crisis sanitaria planteó la urgente necesidad de combatir los principales factores de riesgos que aumentan estas cifras cada año y visibilizó la importancia de contar con políticas nacionales de prevención para luchar contra este problema.
El principal factor de riesgo se encuentra en las largas jornadas laborales, algo que la pandemia ha vuelto a colocar en el centro del debate. Con la restricción a la movilidad y la consecuente implementación abrupta del teletrabajo, la extensión de la jornada se ha instalado de forma silenciosa y sin normas nacionales actualizadas para regular la situación. Esto ha aparejado la agudización de enfermedades profesionales físicas y psicológicas por el estrés y agotamiento, hecho éste facilitado por la utilización de diversas herramientas tecnológicas que terminan causando un monitoreo constante de los trabajadores y las trabajadoras.
Desde el movimiento sindical de la región, volvemos a reiterar la importancia del derecho a la desconexión. El hecho que la fronteras espaciales y temporales se desdibujen con el trabajo a distancia no debe significar una violación a los derechos laborales básicos. Por este motivo, el pago por parte del empleador de los gastos en equipamientos y servicios para trabajar a distancia, el respeto a la privacidad del hogar, el cuidado de la salud físico-emocional de los y las trabajadoras y el derecho a desconectarse, deben seguir estando presentes en la lucha sindical.
Los Convenios Internacionales de la OIT como el 155, 161 y 187 son instrumentos esenciales al momento de regular la SST y debemos continuar fomentando sus ratificaciones. Desde el movimiento sindical de la región, también contamos con dos instrumentos sociopolíticos como son la PLADA (Plataforma de Desarrollo de las Américas) y la ESSLA (Estrategia Sindical en Salud Laboral para las Américas), que debemos reforzar. La salud laboral es un derecho humano fundamental y debemos fomentar sistemas nacionales de protección social universales, públicos y solidarios que incorporen a la SST como pilar.
Para lograr este objetivo, la CSA apoya la iniciativa de la CSI (Confederación Sindical Internacional) de buscar que la SST sea incorporada en la Declaración relativa a los Principios y Derechos Fundamentales en el Trabajo de 1998 que actualmente contempla el derecho a la libertad sindical y negociación colectiva, la eliminación de todas las formas de trabajo forzoso, la abolición efectiva del trabajo infantil y la eliminación de la discriminación en materia de empleo y ocupación. Esto implicará que los Estados miembros deban respetar este derecho, al margen de que hayan ratificado o no los convenios específicos en la materia.
Por estos motivos, y en consonancia con la promoción del tripartismo y el diálogo social que están fomentando desde la OIT para avanzar en este tema, esperamos que, en la próxima Conferencia Internacional del Trabajo, las partes logren la aprobación de la SST como Principio y Derecho Fundamental del Trabajo para dar así un gran paso en esta lucha que afecta las vidas de millones personas.
Source: La Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras de las Americas (CSA)