Sectoral work and international labour standards (ILS)

Background

Sectoral activities and ILS are linked in many ways: (1) many sector-specific standards; (2) standards that are specific to professions which have been developed and are monitored jointly with other international organizations; (3) sectoral meetings that highlight issues – industry-specific, as in the case of mining, or multi-sectoral, as in the case of contract labour – that later become the subject of standards; (4) sectoral meetings that adopt “soft standards” such as codes of practice or sector-specific guidelines.

Sector-specific standards ...

... include the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006, which consolidates and updates more than 65 international labour standards related to seafarers that had been adopted over 80 years. Sector-specific standards in other industries include

• the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No 184)
• the Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167)
• the Working Conditions (Hotels and Restaurants) Convention, 1991 (No. 172)
• the Hours of Work and Rest Periods (Road Transport) Convention, 1979 (No. 153)
• the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176)
• the Hours of Work (Commerce and Offices) Convention, 1930 (No. 30)
• the Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No.149)
• the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151)
• the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174), which mainly affects oil/gas and chemical installations

Professionally specific standards with other organizations ...

... include

• the Rome Convention (1960), which defines neighbouring rights to intellectual property of performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations, jointly administered by ILO, UNESCO and WIPO
• the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers, 1966, jointly promoted and monitored with UNESCO through a Joint Committee of Experts (CEART)

Sectoral issues that lead to standards ...

... include

• texts adopted by the Metal Trades Committee which were instrumental in generating work on multinationals, work that led in 1976 to the adoption of the Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy
• work done in the Chemical Industries Committee in the 1950s that led to much of the recent work on chemicals safety, including the Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170)
• resolutions of the Coal Mines Committee that led to the Safety and Health in Mines Convention, 1995 (No. 176)
• the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Salaried Employees and Professional Workers, and the conclusions of the Joint Meeting on Conditions of Work and Life of Nursing Personnel organized with WHO in 1973, that led to the adoption of the Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149)
• the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC) discussion at its 29th Session (January 2001) that led to the adoption of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006

“Soft standards” (guidelines, codes of practice) adopted by sectoral meetings ...

... include

• Code of practice on safety and health in underground coalmines, 2006
• Code of practice on safety and health in the iron and steel industry, 2005
• Guidelines for labour inspection in forestry, 2005
• Code of practice on safety and health in ports, 2003
• Code of practice on workplace violence in services sectors and measures to combat this phenomenon, 2003
• Code of practice on safety and health in the non-ferrous metals industries, 2003