World Day for Safety and Health at Work

  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 Emerging forms of employment , e.g. self-employment, outsourcing, temporary contracts They may be more widely recognized through better scientific understanding, e.g. the effects of ergonomic risks on musculoskeletal disorders . They may be influenced by changes in perceptions about the importance of certain risk factors, e.g. the effects of psychosocial factors on work-related stress.

The annual Observance of the  World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28th promotes the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. It is an awareness-raising campaign intended to focus international attention on the magnitude of the problem and on how promoting and creating a safety and health culture can help reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries . Each of us is responsible for stopping deaths and injuries on the job . As governments we are responsible for providing the infrastructure — laws and services — necessary to ensure that workers remain employable and that enterprises flourish; this includes the development of a national policy and programme and a system of inspection to enforce compliance with occupational safety and health legislation and policy. As employers we are responsible for ensuring that the working environment is safe and healthy . As workers we are responsible to work safely and to protect ourselves and not to end...

The celebration of the  World Day for Safety and Health at Work  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.  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. 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. April 28th is also the International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers organized worldwide by the trade union movement since 1996.