Tag Archives: #iwmd22

Poland: 28 April event report from OPZZ

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to share with you the OPZZ’s activities to memorialise Workers’ Memorial Day.

Today two hundred eighteen candles were lit under the OPZZ headquarters building in Warsaw. It is a tribute to the 218 victims of accidents at work in 2021.

In front of the OPZZ building, 218 candles were lit to symbolise the victims of last year’s accidents at work, emphasise the importance of worker participation and stress the role of social dialogue in creating a safety culture at work.

A press conference on safety and health at work was also held.

Andrzej Radzikowski, President of the OPZZ, said:  These burning candles symbolise those who died at work. In 2021, it was 218 people. Today, we particularly remember the miners who died in recent days in the Pniówek and Zofiówka coal mines. He said: we honour their memory and express our sincere condolences to their families.

Practice and statistics show that in workplaces where trade unions and the social labour inspectorate actively operate – safety at work has higher standards, and employees are better protected. The time has come for a systemic debate on working conditions in Poland, especially given new threats and challenges resulting from technological progress – continued Andrzej Radzikowski. – Digitalisation of work processes and technological changes have increased the risk of psychosocial problems at work.

Previously unseen phenomena have appeared, such as blurring traditional boundaries between work and private life, limiting the employee’s right to disconnect from the phone and the Internet, or the lack of social interaction. Workplace stress is an ongoing challenge. The number of cases of mental disorders is increasing.

Andrzej Radzikowski drew attention to the fact that the number of victims of accidents at work in Poland is increasing. In 2021, almost 70,000 workers suffered accidents at work – 10% more than the year before, and 218 people died at work.

As a society, we still bear the enormous social costs of accidents resulting from more than 2.5 million days of incapacity to work and the high medical and social costs of post-accident disability.

We trade unionists are hurt by pathologies in the labour market, which have a terrible impact on work safety. Without their elimination, there will be no improvement in safety – stressed Andrzej Radzikowski.

Best regards,

Magdalena Chojnowska

International department of the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ) https://www.opzz.org.pl/en/about-us/opzz/

Azerbaijan: AHİK-ə üzv təşkilatlarda Ümumdünya Əməyin Mühafizəsi Günü ilə əlaqədar tədbirlər keçirilir

AHİK-ə üzv təşkilatlarda Ümumdünya Əməyin Mühafizəsi Günü ilə əlaqədar tədbirlər keçirilir #iwmd22

Finland: Kansainvälinen työntekijöiden muistopäivä – työsuojelu on oikeus

Tänään kansainvälisenä työntekijöiden muistopäivänä – kun muistamme työssä kuolleita tai loukkaantuneita – Eurooppalainen ay-liike vetoaa Euroopan unioniin sekä jäsenvaltioihin vaatimalla, ettei töissä satu enää yhtään kuolemaa.

Maailmanlaajuisesti työhön kuolee 3 miljoonaa työntekijää joka vuosi. EU:n jäsenmaissa (27:ssä) kirjattiin vuonna 2018 yli 3 300 kuolemaan johtanutta onnettomuutta ja 3,1 miljoonaa ei-kuolemaan johtanutta onnettomuutta. Yli 200 000 työntekijää kuolee vuosittain työperäisiin sairauksiin. Syöpä on suurin työperäisten kuolemantapausten syy, mikä on 52 prosenttia kaikista työperäisistä kuolemista Euroopan unionissa. Kaikista työperäisistä syövistä 80 prosenttia liittyy asbestiin, mikä johtaa vuosittain 88 000 kuolemantapaukseen.

Tämä ei ole hyväksyttävää. Euroopan ammatillinen yhteisjärjestö ETUC vaatii 28.4.2022 julkaistussa manifestissa nollaa kuolonuhria työssä. Manifesti kehottaa tekemään työterveydestä ja -turvallisuudesta ILO:n perusperiaatteen ja oikeuden työssä. Sillä estetään yhä useamman työntekijän kärsivän sairauksista, vammoista ja jopa kuolemalta.

ETUC muistuttaa, että työntekijöillä on oltava oikeus kieltäytyä vaarallisesta työstä ja osallistua ennaltaehkäisyä koskeviin päätöksiin työpaikallaan. Työntekijät tarvitsevat ammattiliittoja varmistaakseen, että nämä oikeudet toteutuvat.

Euroopan unionin nykyisessä terveys- ja turvallisuusstrategiassa todetaan, että ”kaikki toimet on toteutettava työperäisten kuolemantapausten vähentämiseksi mahdollisimman paljon työperäisiä kuolemia koskevan ”Vision Zero” -lähestymistavan mukaisesti”. Tämä on ETUCin mukaan hyvä asia, mutta siinä luvatuilla toimilla ei saavuteta nollakuolema-tasoa.

Nolla kuolemaa työssä ei ole utopistinen unelma, mutta se vaatii toimia. ETUC kehottaa manifestissa Euroopan unionia, sen jäsenvaltioiden hallituksia ja työnantajia sitoutumaan aidosti ja ryhtymään tarvittaviin toimiin nollakuoleman saavuttamiseksi työssä. Pelkkä puhe ei enää riitä.

”Tänä kansainvälisenä työläisten muistopäivänä muistamme ennen kaikkea ne, jotka ovat työn takia kuolleet. Ja jos poliitikot ovat halukkaita toimimaan, voimme saavuttaa nolla kuolemantapausta työssä vuoteen 2030 mennessä. On korkea aika asettaa työntekijöiden elämä etusijalle”, kommentoi ETUCin varapääsihteeri Claes-Mikael Ståhl ETUCin lehdistötiedotteessa.

Voit keskustella aiheesta sosiaalisessa mediassa häsäreillä: #IWMD22 ja #ZeroDeathAtWork. 

Belgium: ACV-CSC-Belgium calls on governments and employers to take action and commit to zero work deaths

ACV-CSC-Belgium calls on the #EU, its MS governments, and employers to genuinely commit, and take actions needed, to achieve #ZeroDeathAtWork.

#iwmd22

 

Australia: Asbestos society remembers those killed, injured or made ill by work

Asbestos Disease Support Society

“Today, 28 April 2022 is Workers’ Memorial Day. The day provides an opportunity to reflect on how to prevent occupational deaths, injuries, diseases and illnesses. It is also a day to remember those that have died from a work-related injury or illness.” #workersmemorialday2022 #iwmd22

Twitter

Global: #IWMD22 – Unions call for workplace health and safety to become a fundamental right for working people this 28 April

#IWMD22: Unions call for workplace health and safety to become a fundamental right for working people this International Workers’ Memorial Day

It is in the interests of workers, employers and governments to make occupational health and safety an ILO fundamental principle and right at work.

That is why trade unions – globally, sectorally, nationally and in factories, care homes and offices everywhere – are marking International Workers’ Memorial Day, Thursday 28 April, by demanding that the tripartite International Labour Conference this June take this long overdue and vital step.

Nine million workers have died because of occupational illnesses and injuries – two thirds of them from diseases – since the ILO first decided to take this step at the 2019 Centenary Conference, and now we need to make it a reality.

Governments need to ratify and, more importantly, implement ILO Convention 155 on occupational health and safety and ILO Convention 161 on occupational health services (currently covering only 20% of the workforce) because they outline the practical steps needed to address the challenges that workers and employers face every day.

They set out the common-sense rules that would save lives and money. Disasters like the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013, which killed over a thousand workers and injured many more, are bad for business and cause reputational harm and lasting damage across economies. Making occupational health and safety a fundamental ILO right would help prevent such disasters and benefit everyone.

ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow said: “There is no excuse for ducking this decision any longer. It’s bad for workers and bad for business, and it costs economies billions in sickness absence, disability benefits and lost production.

“We need workplace safety representatives, joint safety committees with employers, and a five-fold increase in access to occupational health services so that everyone at work is protected.

“The right to refuse dangerous work is good for business as well as for workers. Responsible businesses must step up and save lives, as well as money, by making occupational health and safety a fundamental right for workers.

“Let’s make this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day the last year that workers are denied this fundamental right.”

UK: Remembering the frontline workers killed by racism

On #IWMD22 let’s remember those frontline workers who have died in the #COVID19 pandemic & the institutional racism in workplaces & society that has led to a massively disproportionate toll amongst black workers. ‘Remember the dead, fight for the living’ #IWMD2022

 

Global: 28 April video message from Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary

“Today, we commemorate International Workers Memorial Day #IWMD22. 3 million workers die of work accidents and diseases each year. Occupational health and safety must be at the centre of fundamental rights” Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary. Continue reading Global: 28 April video message from Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary

Brazil: Video message from SINTICOM-Campinas remembering workplace accident victims

Continue reading Brazil: Video message from SINTICOM-Campinas remembering workplace accident victims

Cambodia: 28 April video message from Carlsberg Union

An international Workers’ Memorial Day message from Kem Mao president of Carlsberg union