World Day for Safety and Health at work

Context:

• The World Day for Safety and Health at Work will aim 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.

Background:

• In 2003, the International Labour Organization (ILO), began to observe World Day in order to stress the prevention of accidents and diseases at work, capitalizing on the ILO’s traditional strengths of tripartism and social dialogue.
• This celebration is an integral part of the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health of the ILO, as documented in the Conclusions of the International Labour Conference in June 2003.
• One of the main pillars of the Global Strategy is advocacy, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a significant tool to raise awareness of how to make work safe and healthy and of the need to raise the political profile of occupational safety and health.

28 April is also the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers organized worldwide by the trade union movement since 1996.

World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2020: 

• To combat the COVID-19 pandemic whole world governments, employers, workers and whole societies are facing a great challenge to protect safety and health at work. Concerns are growing as COVID-19 infections are rising in some parts of the world and the ability to sustain declining rates in others. Therefore the day is celebrated to promote safety and health in the workplace and those who have died from work-related injury or illness at the workplace, Worker’s Memorial Day honors’ them.

Theme of the day:

2020:  “Stop the pandemic: Safety and health at work can save lives”.

2019:  “Safety and Health and the Future of Work”.

2018:   “OSH vulnerability of Young workers”.