In Pretoria ILO marked 28 April by joining South Africa’s Department of Labour and Employment on workplace safety visits. The activities highlighted the importance of safe and healthy working conditions as a fundamental right under ILO Conventions No. 155 and No. 187. The initiative emphasised prevention, shared responsibility and the human impact of workplace safety, encouraging stronger cultures of care, accountability and action to ensure workers return home safely each day.
To mark World Day for Safety and Health at Work, Kaori Nakamura-Osaka, International Labour Organization Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, calls for stronger action to protect workers from psychosocial hazards.
A delivery rider works 14 hours a day to meet algorithm-driven targets. A factory worker quietly endures relentless pressure and harassment. A middle-aged manager pushes away thoughts of suicide resulting from stress.
These are not isolated stories. They are signals of a deeper crisis, one that is too often invisible, unspoken and underestimated: the impact of psychosocial hazards on workers.
This 28 April, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work calls global attention to psychosocial factors that influence health at work.
The impact of physical work-related hazards such as manual handling of heavy loads or working at heights are well recognised and understood. Psychosocial hazards are invisible but just as dangerous. Long working hours, workplace stress, violence and harassment, low pay and lack of job security – to name but a few – can all take a toll on both the physical and mental health of workers.
A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report, The psychosocial working environment: Global developments and pathways for action highlights the scale of the impact.
It reveals that work-related psychosocial factors are responsible for more than 840,000 deaths annually due to associated cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders and lead to the loss of nearly 45 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) each year.
Long working hours are highlighted as a critical psychosocial risk factor associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. In Asia and the Pacific, the burden is especially significant with nearly half of workers in the region working more than 48 hours per week, substantially higher than in other parts of the world.
The report also recognises the implications of the changing world of work on the psychosocial work environment. Digitalization and the use of artificial intelligence are transforming how tasks are coordinated, monitored and assessed. New forms of employment, including platform work, varied contractual arrangements and the expansion of remote and hybrid work, are redefining supervision, expectations and working time. While these developments may create opportunities to strengthen the psychosocial working environment, they may also exacerbate psychosocial risks.
The true extent of the problem is still not fully understood. Data remains fragmented and many countries lack consistent systems to identify psychosocial hazards and address their risks.
Stigma continues to silence workers who might otherwise speak out. This silence is one of the biggest barriers we face. Many fear the negative career consequences of talking about stress, burnout, anxiety or depression at work. The result is that problems remain hidden until they become crises.
But there is also reason for cautious optimism. Governments, employers and workers across the region are increasingly recognizing that psychosocial hazards represent a major threat to workers’ safety and health as well as organizational productivity and broader economic performance.
We are seeing this shift reflected in policy. For instance, when China revised the Work Safety Law in 2021, mental health at work was formally incorporated into employers’ statutory obligations. The revision requires employers to strengthen psychological aspects in occupational health services. Meanwhile, in 2024, when China revised the Classification and Catalogue of Occupational Diseases, occupational mental health disorders were included as occupational diseases for the first time.
Other examples across the region include Japan’s current national occupational safety and health programme which prioritizes the prevention of overwork and mental health problems. The Republic of Korea is expanding support through workers’ health centres and requiring rest facilities. Australia and New Zealand have integrated mental health into broader national strategies, while countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines are strengthening legal frameworks to address psychosocial risks at work.
The ILO’s new report highlights a simple but powerful truth: psychosocial risks are not inevitable. They arise from identifiable aspects of work, excessive demands, lack of control, poor support and unfair treatment. These can all be changed and this means prevention is possible.
Across Asia and the Pacific, promising practices are already emerging. In Singapore, tools such as iWorkHealth help companies assess workplace psychosocial factors and promote well-being. In Malaysia, guidelines on psychosocial risk management support employers in identifying and addressing risks.
For workers in every sector, psychosocial factors at work can make the difference between a job that supports well-being and one that undermines it. Creating such environments requires commitment from all sides. Governments must strengthen policies and data systems. Employers must take responsibility for how work is organized and managed. Workers must be able to participate, speak up and be heard. Social dialogue is essential to making this happen.
The message for Asia and the Pacific is clear: the region’s future depends not only on how much people work, but on how work is experienced every day. Behind every statistic is a worker trying to cope, to provide, to endure. Managing psychosocial risks means ensuring that work does not come at the cost of health, dignity or life itself.
A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right at work. Making that a reality, is a challenge we must meet.
28 kwietnia – Światowy Dzień Bezpieczeństwa i Zdrowia w Pracy – to dobry moment, by przyjrzeć się danym z najnowszego raportu Międzynarodowej Organizacji Pracy (ILO).
Psychospołeczne środowisko pracy to dziś jedno z najpoważniejszych wyzwań dla zdrowia pracowników. Z raportu wynika, że:
• czynniki psychospołeczne odpowiadają za ponad 840 000 zgonów rocznie (m.in. w związku z chorobami serca i zaburzeniami psychicznymi)
• 35% pracowników na świecie pracuje ponad 48 godzin tygodniowo, co znacząco zwiększa ryzyko chorób i udaru
• 23% osób doświadcza przemocy lub molestowania w pracy, najczęściej psychicznego
Problemy są powszechne, rosnące i wciąż niewystarczająco adresowane na poziomie systemowym.
Dlatego w 2026 roku, wspólnie z Międzynarodową Organizacją Pracy, zwracamy szczególną uwagę na psychospołeczne środowisko pracy – obszar często pomijany, choć mający kluczowe znaczenie dla zdrowia i funkcjonowania pracowników.
Dlaczego to ważne?
• zagrożenia psychospołeczne są powiązane z wieloma problemami – zarówno indywidualnymi, jak i zespołowymi
• stres i wypalenie wpływają na zdrowie, efektywność i relacje
• problemy często narastają stopniowo i długo pozostają niezauważone
Psychospołeczne środowisko pracy to nie tylko atmosfera w zespole, ale także sposób zarządzania, organizacja pracy, relacje oraz poziom wsparcia.
Zdrowe miejsce pracy to takie, w którym:
• role i oczekiwania są jasno określone
• pracownicy mają wpływ na swoją pracę
• komunikacja jest otwarta, a wsparcie realne
Na naszej stronie udostępniliśmy pełną wersję raportu ILO przetłumaczoną na język polski:
https://www.ciop.pl/CIOPPortalWAR/file/101906/Raport_MOP-2026.pdf
Więcej materiałów i informacji:
https://bit.ly/ciop-safeday-2026
On World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2026, ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo highlights the urgent need to improve psychosocial working environments.
As the world of work evolves, factors like job design, management practices, and workplace culture have a direct impact on workers’ health, dignity, and well-being. With over 840,000 deaths linked annually to psychosocial risks, the call is clear: governments, employers, and workers must act together to create safer, healthier, and more just workplaces for all.
Across the world, work shapes people’s lives in profound ways.
It can provide purpose, security and opportunity.
But the way work is designed, organized and managed also affects something fundamental: workers’ safety, health and dignity.
Today, the world of work is changing rapidly. Digital technologies, new forms of employment, demographic change and climate pressures are transforming the way we work.
In this context, the psychosocial working environment has never been more important.
For workers in every sector, psychosocial factors at work can make the difference between a job that supports well-being and one that undermines it.
The consequences are significant.
Psychosocial risk factors at work are linked to more than 840,000 deaths each year worldwide, associated with cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders.
They place heavy costs on societies and economies.
Safe and healthy working environments are a fundamental principle and right at work.
But they do not happen by chance.
When work is designed with reasonable demands, adequate support, opportunities for participation and respect for dignity, it benefits everyone.
Workers are healthier and more motivated.
Enterprises become stronger and more sustainable.
Preventing psychosocial risks requires commitment and cooperation.
Governments must put in place effective policies, legal frameworks and occupational safety and health systems that support prevention.
Employers shape the daily reality of work through leadership and responsible management practices.
And workers and their representatives bring essential knowledge about how work is experienced.
On this World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the ILO calls on governments, employers and workers everywhere to strengthen their efforts to prevent psychosocial risks through social dialogue, to ensure that the design, organization and management of work creates the conditions for healthier workers, successful enterprises and societies that are closer to social justice.
This is at the heart of the ILO’s vision of decent work.
Join or watch this event live or replay on ILO Live.
How’s work?
For many workers, the answer lies not only in what they do, but in how their work is designed, organized and managed, and in the broader policies, practices and procedures that govern work. Work can offer meaning, support and a sense of purpose. But when demands are excessive, roles are unclear, support is lacking, or systems fail to protect people, psychosocial risks can harm workers’ safety and health, affect organizational performance and carry wider social and economic costs. As work continues to evolve, the challenge is not only to respond to harm, but to foster healthier psychosocial working environments through preventive action.
In commemorating the World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2026, this event brings together ILO constituents, ministers and international experts to discuss global developments and practical pathways for ensuring a healthy psychosocial working environment.
Join or watch this event live or replay on ILO Live
More than 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to psychosocial risks, such as long working hours, job insecurity, and workplace harassment, according to a new global report by the International Labour Organization (ILO). These work-related psychosocial risks are mainly associated with cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders, including suicide.
The report also finds that these risks account for nearly 45 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost annually, reflecting years of healthy life lost due to illness, disability, or premature death, and are estimated to result in economic losses equivalent to 1.37 per cent of global GDP each year.
The report, The psychosocial working environment: Global developments and pathways for action, highlights the growing impact of how work is designed, organized, and managed on workers’ safety and health. It warns that psychosocial risk factors—including long working hours, job insecurity, high demands with low control, and workplace bullying and harassment—can create harmful working environments if not properly addressed.
When psychosocial factors harm workers, they become hazards which, alongside physical, chemical and biological types, must be addressed and managed to ensure safe and healthy working environments.
To mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April 2026, the ILO will share campaign materials, including a global report and a PowerPoint presentation. The report takes an organizational, prevention-focused approach and looks at psychosocial factors across three levels: the job, how work is managed and organized, and the broader policies, practices and procedures that govern work.
À l’approche de la Journée mondiale de la sécurité et de la santé au travail, le 28 avril, un nouveau rapport de l’Organisation internationale du Travail (OIT) montre comment l’intelligence artificielle (IA), la numérisation, la robotique et l’automatisation transforment la sécurité et la santé au travail (SST).
En prenant en charge des tâches dangereuses, en assistant lors d’interventions chirurgicales et en optimisant la logistique, les robots contribuent à réduire les risques et à améliorer l’efficacité. Ces technologies favorisent la santé et le bien-être des travailleurs. Il reste toutefois nécessaire d’intensifier les efforts pour atténuer les risques potentiels qu’elles pourraient engendrer.
Les informations sont attribuables à l’OIT, l’Organisation internationale du Travail.
Email newsroom@ilo.org
Ahead of World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April, a new report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) shows how artificial intelligence (AI), digitalization, robotics and automation are reshaping occupational safety and health (OSH) at work.
By taking on hazardous tasks, assisting in surgeries, and optimizing logistics, robots help reduce risks and improve efficiency, these technologies are improving worker health, and well-being. More, however, needs to be done in order to mitigate against any risks that could arise from such technologies.
The information is attributable to the ILO, the International Labour Organization. email newsroom@ilo.org
On 28 April, Poland observes the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. This year’s theme is: Digitalisation and artificial intelligence – a new era of work
Modern technologies are transforming our workplaces — influencing work organisation, productivity, and also the safety and health of workers. This year, at the initiative of the International Labour Organization, we are looking into the role of artificial intelligence, machine learning, exoskeletons, the Internet of Things, virtual and augmented reality, as well as the challenges associated with remote work and digital platforms.
How can we leverage innovation to improve safety while minimising risks? What changes lie ahead in the coming years? We will seek answers to these questions during the observance, with more details available at: