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Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) has requested the Nepal government recognise Covid-19 as an occupational disease.
Call for information: Covid-19 compensation and official recognition as an occupational disease by country
CEPHED notes a number of countries have already recognised Covid-19 as an occupational disease and agreed that work-related cases of Covid-19 must be reported to the authorities and now qualify for workers’ compensation. In some examples, cases of Covid-19 in frontline workers are presumed by the compensation authorities to be caused by the job (with ‘frontline workers’ covering a wide-range of job categories).
CEPHED wishes to make available information on best practice. and is seeking information from with regard to:
a) compensation (and if possible any conditions/restrictions on eligibility)
b) official recognition of Covid-19 as an occupational disease, and any related reporting/recording requirements.
Thank you for your assistance. It will be extremely helpful in our efforts to secure prevention of Covid-19 and justice for all affected workers.
CEPHED initiative of COVID 19 in Nepal
Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED)
Mahalaxmi Municipality,
Ward No.2, Lalitpur ,
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel/Fax: +977-1-5201786
UK campaigning network work Families Against Corporate Killers (FACK) has produced a moving and forceful 28 April video memorial which you can view here.
Also read FACK’s 28 April statement If you do not protect the workforce in a pandemic, you do not protect the public.
National Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job
On April 28, the National Day of Mourning for Workers Killed or Injured on the Job, we remember all the workers we have lost. On this day, CUPE also joins with the Canadian Labour Congress and other unions around the county to demand that all governments enforce the laws, including Westray provisions in the Criminal Code and occupational health and safety laws.
We urge CUPE members to observe a moment of silence and lower flags to half-mast on Tuesday, April 28. Show your support by prominently displaying our poster at your workplace.
Every day in Canada, workers lose their lives on the job. Their deaths are preventable and should not happen. It boggles the mind that we lose almost 1000 workers every year.
In 2017, the most recent year that full statistics are available, the officially recorded number of workplace fatalities rose to at least 951. As with every year, we say “at least” because we, in the labour movement, have always known that the number is higher.
Last year, a new report called Work-Related Death in Canada has attempted to quantify the number of workers lost who are usually uncounted. These are people who are not in the compensation system, or are self-employed, or work “off the grid” in precarious work. Or they are considered to have had a “natural” death, or were commuting to and from work, or who died from an occupational disease or cancer that was never related back to their working conditions.
If we include all the uncounted, the research suggests that there may be 10-13 times as many people dying because of work in Canada than we officially accept in our compensation system. But while there may be no insurance payment for those left behind, their loved ones are gone just the same.
We implore governments and employers to invest in prevention, including strong health and safety committees. We call for a robust enforcement regime to enhance prevention through pro-active inspections, and to punish those employers who refuse to fulfill their duty to ensure a safe workplace. We also call on the federal government to reinstate the definition of danger that existed in the Canada Labour Code before Stephen Harper weakened it without consultation in 2014.
Day of Mourning flag **New Design!**
https://cupe.ca/event/day-mourning
Abril Verde is a running a series of Facebook activities for worker health and safety to mark International Workers’ Memorial Day.
The Abril Verde Green April movement is “an initiative of the Union of Safety Technicians of the State of Paraná,” that “aims to bring to society the issue of the safety and health of the Brazilian worker. ”
The COVID-19 outbreak has shown us how vulnerable we are to an epidemic, and how devastating the effects can be: on life, on health, on society, on our economy.
It has demonstrated very clearly the importance of protecting working people (and all people) from disease, especially at the workplace.
It has also shown the importance of investing in good public health care, investing in good conditions for health care workers and other frontline workers, and the need to ensure good sick pay and other provisions to protect the wages and jobs of all.
For International Workers Memorial Day – 28 April – we commemorate all those who died from corona virus. We remember health care workers and all other workers who died from corona virus through exposure at work. No one should die from work!
Nurses, paramedics, other medical staff, and others who work in health care premises, including cleaners, are exposed to multiple occupational risks – biological (e.g. from viruses), chemical (e.g. from the many carcinogenic substances used in a medical setting), physical (e.g. from machinery noise, radiation, slips and falls) and ergonomic risks (e.g. from heavy lifting), psychological (e.g. from the intensity and emotion of the work and from shift work) and hazardous drugs.
Many other workers are also very exposed to disease. For example, care workers, rubbish collectors, teaching staff, transport, shop, construction, contact centre and fast-food workers as well as couriers and delivery workers are among those with high exposure to disease. Many of these workers also work physically close to others: risking to spread as well as catch diseases. Some posted and precarious workers live and travel in close proximity to fellow workers. Many are also in precarious working conditions, low-paid and unable to take sick leave – either because they are not entitled to sick pay, or because they cannot afford to: putting themselves and others at risk if forced to work when ill.
It is essential that all existing health and safety laws and agreements for these workers, and indeed all workers, are fully and properly implemented, involving social partners. It is also essential to review whether existing protections are adequate for dealing with risks such as corona virus. It is clear that many workers, including health care workers, did not for example have adequate personal protective equipment. Investment in health and safety equipment and workplace dialogue and debate about implementing health and safety measures need to be scaled up.
Health care services have been stretched to the absolute limit by corona virus. Public health services’ ability to tackle the coronavirus crisis has not been helped by staff shortages, and inadequate facilities and budgets. The OECD emphasised the importance of public health spending and investment in its recent report on responses to the virus. Trade unions call for increased investment in public health care, not just during the crisis but also afterwards to strengthen our health services ability to deal with this and other emergencies.
The coronavirus crisis has resulted in temporary measures to extend sick pay and income protection schemes to workers who do not normally have the right to sick pay and other protections, including self-employed and platform workers. This shows that there is a longer-term problem which needs to be fixed: all workers should have sick pay, unemployment benefits and other wage protection benefits. And adequate protections for their health and safety in the working life.
Joint ETUC & European trade union federations statement for Workers Memorial Day 2020
Healthworkers from all over the the United Kingdom call for everyone to join them for a minute’s silence at 11am on Tuesday April 28, Workers Memorial Day, to remember all the key workers who have died – but also to fight for the living. They want all workers to stop non-essential work that day and hold socially distanced protests to secure proper PPE, testing and tracing for all key workers. And without kit, there will be no care. The government has failed us – it’s time for the people to act.
Follow the growing healthworkers movement on Facebook
Recognizing the great challenge that governments, employers, workers and whole societies are facing worldwide to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Type: | Campaign |
| When: | 28 April 2020 |
| Where: | ILO HQ – Geneva |
| Contact(s): | SafeDay Team (safeday@ilo.org) |
Concern is growing over the continuing rise in COVID-19 infections in some parts of the world and the ability to sustain declining rates in others. Governments, employers, workers and their organizations face enormous challenges as they try to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and protect safety and health at work. Beyond the immediate crisis, there are also concerns about resuming activity in a manner that sustains progress made in suppressing transmission.
The World Day for Safety and Health at Work will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, focussing on the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim is to stimulate national tripartite dialogue on safety and health at work. The ILO is using this day to raise awareness on the adoption of safe practices in workplaces and the role that occupational safety and health (OSH) services play. It will also focus on the medium to long-term, including recovery and future preparedness, in particular, integrating measures into OSH management systems and policies at the national and enterprise levels.
Original and exclusive think pieces on the OSH response to the Covid-19 pandemic from the global OSH community
“We need special measures to protect the millions of health care workers and other workers who risk their own health for us every day.”
“Teleworking offers new opportunities for workers to keep working… However, workers must be able to negotiate these arrangements so that they retain balance with other responsibilities, such as caring for children, the sick or the elderly, and of course themselves.”
ILO Director-General, Guy Ryder
Please note that the world day theme announced earlier for 2020 on violence and harassment in the world of work has been replaced in view of the current global crisis. The technical products and promotional material on violence and harassment will continue to be made available here .
what’s new
The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) has recommended the Facebook page COVID-19 Footprints In Botswana, an information platform designed to share and document much of the Covid19 developments and impacts to working life in Botswana since the announcement of the first suspected case of the virus in the country.
BFTU Facebook page • COVID-19 Footprints In Botswana
IWMD will give us the chance to remember the workers who have died because of COVID-19
Tuesday 28 April is International Workers’ Memorial Day, when we remember all those who have died because of their work – and renew our pledge to fight for the living.
In the year of coronavirus, this day of commemoration has never been more important. And that is why UNISON is asking the country to observe a minute’s silence, to remember all the health, care and other key workers who have already lost their lives to COVID-19.
The campaign for a minute’s silence at 11am next Tuesday was launched earlier this week by UNISON, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives, which collectively represent more than a million NHS and public service workers, including porters, refuse collectors and care staff.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said it would be “the ultimate tribute to remember workers who’ve lost their lives and put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe and vital services running.
“Every year, the sacrifice of workers around the world is recognised, but this year has a special significance because of the pandemic.
“Thousands of key staff are on the frontline while the rest of us are in lockdown. That’s why we’ve issued this call for the whole country to take part and remember the sacrifices they’ve made. The best tribute we can all pay them is to stay inside to protect the NHS.”
Thousands of workers across the UK are caring for those suffering from COVID-19 or delivering vital public services that are vital for us all – potentially putting their own safety and even their own lives at risk.
In many cases, these workers know that, by simply doing their jobs, they are putting themselves at risk.
The risks faced by those working in the health and social care sectors has already been acknowledged, but there are also others – those working in childcare, police services and refuse collection, in hostels and rescue centres, in gas, water and electricity, and in transport services among them – whose work and dedication often goes unacknowledged.
Tragically, some of these workers have already died. In some cases, more could have been done to protect them, whether by better enforcement of social distancing, looking after workers with underlying health conditions or provision of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep them safe.
While improvements have been seen in some areas, more needs to be done – specifically in relation to assessing the risks our members are facing and ensuring that all staff who require it are getting the protective equipment needed to do the job safely.
UNISON has never been afraid to demand the highest standards for workers; we have not been afraid to speak out and hold the government to account on providing the right PPE when staff need it, and to hold employers to account who are not doing enough to keep their workers safe.
All of this adds to the importance of observing a minutes’ silence at 11am next Tuesday.
But other things that you can do include:
Coronavirus: what you need to know