‘Tackling psychosocial hazards at work – taking the stress out of the job’
#iwmd20
28 de Abril Jornada Internacional de Conmemoración (JIC) de los Trabajadores Fallecidos y Heridos
28 Avril Journée Internationale de Commémoration (JIC) des travailleurs décédés et blessés
28 April International Workers’ Memorial Day
28 April International commemoration day for dead and injured workers 28 April International day of mourning
The 28 April 2020 campaign theme will be ‘tackling psychosocial hazards at work – taking the stress out of the job’. We will seek to highlight the harm caused by occupational stress and related conditions, including depression, anxiety, burnout, and work-related alcohol and drug dependency, and work-related suicides.
The theme allows us to campaign for action to remedy the broad range of contributory factors and will also engage those in the union movement not primarily interested in occupational health and safety, including:
– low pay, payment by results, piecework
– workload, working hours and work patterns
– inadequate staffing
– job insecurity, downsizing
– precarious/informal/gig work
– punitive sickness absence policies
– punitive disciplinary procedures
– oppressive performance management/appraisal systems
– lean production, new management techniques/behavioural safety
– surveillance at work
– lack of control
Unions have also identified a gap in the ILO instruments – there are not dealing explicitly with psychosocial hazards, so we could use 28 April to press for an ILO convention on this area, and for an expansion of the ILO list of occupational diseases to include a more detailed entry on work-related psychosocial conditions and impacts, including an explicit reference to the need for action to prevent the growing problem of work-related suicide.
There is also scope to link to existing international union campaigns on precarious work, low pay, safe rates, safe staffing and other issues. And we can highlight best practice – laws, agreements, actions, union resources and campaigns.
ITUC will be providing further details on the 28 April 2020 campaign early in the new year.
In the coming weeks, we will be posting updates and signposting resources on the dedicated 28 April webpages at: www.28april.org
In the meantime if you have successful case histories you would like us to feature in our materials please email them to: editor@hazards.org
Some general background materials and link are available here:
www.hazards.org/mentalhealth
www.hazards.org/lowpay
www.hazards.org/insecure