World Day for Safety and Health at Work

In 2003, the International Labour Organization (ILO), began to observe the World Day for Safety and Health at Work to stress the prevention of accidents and diseases at work and as an integral part of the ILO’s Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health. 28th April is also the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers organized worldwide by the trade union movement since 1996. Responsibility for stopping deaths and injuries on the job lies at many levels. Governments are responsible for providing the laws, policies, services and compliance/monitoring systems to ensure that workers remain employable and that enterprises flourish. Employers are responsible for ensuring that the working environment is safe and healthy. Workers are responsible for working safely, for protecting themselves, for not endangering others, for knowing their rights and for participating in the implementation of preventive measures. As identified by the United Nations, new and emerging occupational risks may be caused by technical innovation or by social or organizational change, such as:

• New technologies and production processes, e.g., nanotechnology, biotechnology;
• New working conditions, e.g., higher workloads, work intensification from downsizing, poor conditions associated with migration for work, jobs in the informal economy; and
• Emerging forms of employment, e.g., self-employment, outsourcing, temporary contracts.

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/book/introduction-and-summaries-2018-19