The ILO's Workers' Health Promotion and Well-being at Work Programmes are recent additions to the Programme on SafeWork. They are designed to help meet the ILO's commitment "to further among the nations of the world programmes which will achieve ... adequate protection for the life and health of workers in all occupations" (Annex to the ILO Constitution, Article III).
Workplace well-being means the promotion of a healthy workforce and a healthy workplace, as a vital component of improving:
workplace productivity and performance;
the long-term well-being of workers and their families;
national health and development; and
reducing pressure on health, welfare and social security systems.
Workers' Health Promotion and Well-being at Work Programmes focus on the promotion of health among all workers and their families and within the community through preventive and assistance programmes in the areas of drug and alcohol abuse, tobacco, HIV/AIDS and stress and violence at work. In all these areas, and particularly drug and alcohol abuse, the ILO's comparative advantage lies in its experience of using the social dialogue approach. This approach has resulted in the implementation of very successful workplace and community initiatives, with the involvement of employers, workers, governments, public services and NGOs, to address these problems. This approach is very important and effective because:
Social dialogue brings together a wide range of partners to concentrate on and bring into the open issues for which the natural reaction is often to ignore the problem, pretend it does not affect the company or profession concerned, or get rid of those concerned. Many employers maintain that their workplace is not affected by the problem, or ignore it in the hope that it will resolve itself. These responses merely serve to conceal problems which will continue to have an important detrimental effect on safety, performance, health and well-being. Alternatively, employers may choose to dismiss problem employees, with the result that their problems are passed on to another enterprise or to the community.
The social dialogue approach helps to form networks in the workplace and beyond, which can include families, schools and public authorities, on issues where lasting and effective progress can only be made through changes in social attitudes. Practices and attitudes relating to tobacco, drugs and alcohol, violent behaviour and HIV/AIDS can only be modified in the long term through changes in behaviour and social attitudes. The workplace not only offers direct access to many of the persons most at risk, but is also an effective channel for reaching workers' families and, through its central position in the community, other areas of society, such as schools and social services.
The social dialogue approach is a valuable means of developing close and mutually beneficial partnerships which can be useful in many other areas of working life. For example, companies which have implemented ILO programmes to combat drug and alcohol abuse have found them to be important instruments for developing social dialogue and partnerships. In certain cases, this has provided a good basis for reaching agreement on other issues, such as the training and restructuring required for the adoption of new technologies and work techniques, as well as for the development of broader-based health promotion programmes for workers and their families (see model prevention programmes).
Time spent in developing partnerships to improve workplace health and well-being is an investment in the most important asset of any company or organization, its workers. It is also an investment in the social context within which a company or organization operates, and therefore in its future.
