Observe World Day for Safety and Health at Work Every April 28
On April 28 we raise awareness of the need to ensure every worker is safe at work, not exposed to dangerous or unhealthy conditions on the job. That’s what World Day for Safety and Health at Work is all about.
Those of us living in developed countries tend to think of workplaces as pretty safe places, for the most part. Some kinds of jobs come with more risks than others. But employers have safety standards in place to protect their workers.
Except when they don’t.
It’s true. Workplace accidents result in hundreds of thousands of injuries and deaths all around the world. And still more workers will become ill due to their work environments.
Some countries don’t take workplace safety seriously. The majority of workers in those countries are at risk.
Other countries do understand the problem. But in some the laws are not as strong as they could be. And even in countries with strong laws some employers may not always follow them. Or may not be sure how to follow them.
And human beings make mistakes, even when trying to follow safety practices.
The toll adds up quickly.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a global effort to reduce these numbers … Preferably to zero.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) started the day in 2003.
Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this unofficial holiday.
Observing World Day for Safety and Health at Work
In 2015 ILO invited you to “join in building a culture of prevention on OSH” when you visit their interactive website. The site includes roles for everyone, from workers to employers, governments to OSH specialists. It’s still up, and the information is still relevant.
That same year the ILO’s statement said “A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention.”
So whoever you are, you can learn how you can help create and maintain safe workplaces.
You can read ILO’s current safety day statement here. And explore the site to learn more. There’s links to previous years’ statements going back to 2o12.
Additional reading:
Workplace Safety: A Guide for Small and Midsized Companies, by Dan Hopwood
To BE SAFE, You should ASSess your safety culture: A Workplace Safety Culture Assessment Guide, by Thomas E. Williams
And finally, if you’re a manager, post the Workplace Safety Rules Poster where everyone can see it.
[…] World Day for Safety and Health at Work: Not all countries take workplace safety seriously. And even in countries that do, some companies bend the rules. And workers may find following them tedious. But governments, companies, and workers can work together to create safe workplaces. […]