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Brief Survey of ILO Safety and Health Activities
One of the key functions of the International Labour Organization from its inception has been the establishment of international standards on labour and social matters. These international labour standards take the form of Conventions and Recommendations. About 70 of them deal with occupational safety and health matters. Codes of PracticeIn addition to the ILO Conventions and Recommendations dealing with occupational safety and health matters, further guidance is provided in codes of practice and manuals which are used as reference material by those in charge of formulating detailed regulations or responsible for occupational safety and health. 2. Technical Advisory Services and PublicationsAdvisory Services by Technical SectionsThe Occupational Safety and Health Branch is organized into five technical sections. These sections provide advisory services and assistance to member States. Part of the work of these sections is the organization of meetings of exerts. Meetings of experts have made a valuable contribution to the ILO work and have proved to be an extremely efficient working tool of the Organization.These meetings are essential for the preparation of proposed instruments for the submission to International Labour Conferences for consideration, codes of practice and technical guides, and for the examination of problems specific to a particular region or certain general subjects in relation to which appropriate recommendations for ILO activities need to be made. To see the report of a typical meeting of experts, in this case on the issue of workers' health surveillance, click here. Guides and Manuals
Guides and manuals are a useful supplement to the international standards and the corresponding codes of practice. Guides and manuals on occupational safety and health are usually illustrated texts giving practical indications for solutions of various problems arising in enterprises.
A typical guide is the one on workers' health surveillance produced by the meeting of experts mentioned above.
The ILO also has available its current Catalogue of Occupational Safety and Health Publications both in electronic and printed format.
The Industrial and analogous Committees are an important tool for promoting occupational safety and health preventive measures. An impressive number of resolutions, conclusions and recommendations have been adopted by these committees. Some of those conclusions and resolutions have subsequently formed the basis for discussions at the International Labour Conference. Mention should especially be made of the following meetings:
During the last ten years many countries have benefited from the ILO technical assistance and many continue to benefit from it. In particular, such assistance has helped them to define and implement a coherent occupational safety and health policy, establish or strengthen specialized institutions and services, organize appropriate training, and encourage employers and workers to work together in order to establish better conditions of occupational safety and health. To see a report that illustrates the kind of work conducted in the framework of the ILO's technical cooperation activities, click here. |
