The 91st International Labour Conference got underway in Geneva on Tuesday, 3 June. Conference Committees are set to consider a host of key issues affecting the overall safety and security of people who work.

The Committee on Seafarers will discuss the welfare of seafarers and the facilitation of navigation, in the context of the need for increased security against acts of terrorism. A key issue for discussion is the identification of seafarers seeking shore leave or carrying out professional duties in a foreign territory. The Committee will review the ILO Seafarers' Identity Documents Convention (No. 108) which was adopted in 1958 and try to adapt the security features of identity documents to present-day conditions.

As part of the ILO's on-going campaign to staunch the annual toll of work-related accidents and illnesses that take some 2 million lives and cost the global economy an estimated 1,250,000 million US dollars, Conference delegates will hold a wide-ranging discussion on priorities and aims for ILO action in the area of occupational safety and health. The aim is to elaborate a plan of action, which could encompass international labour standards, other instruments such as codes of practice, technical cooperation, knowledge management and dissemination and inter-agency cooperation.

You may consult the documents related to the Integrated Approach to Standard-Related Activities in the Area of OSH, including Report VI - ILO standards-related activities in the area of occupational safety and health: An in-depth study for discussion with a view to the elaboration of a plan of action for such activities.