BANGKOK (ILO News): Senior officials of the International Labour Office and Thailand’s Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare will open a three-day workshop in Rayong today (Tuesday 4 July), for representatives of government and employers’ and workers’ organizations to identify "safeguards and safe practices" to reduce work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths.

The Director of the ILO’s global SafeWork InFocus Programme, Dr Jukka Takala, will join more than 40 participants to focus on strengthening the country’s occupational safety and health framework.

Worldwide, Dr Takala said, there were more than 1.2 million work-related deaths each year – significantly more than the number caused by road accidents (999,000), war, (502,000) and violence (563,000). "But perhaps the greatest tragedy is that more than half of the work-related deaths could have been avoided by using available information and safety practices," he said.

Dr Takala said he was heartened by the vigorous support for the workshop from all three of the ILO’s tripartite constituents: "The ILO’s experience worldwide shows that creating the kind of framework of safeguards and safe practices that saves lives at work needs the active involvement of government, employers and workers."

Like the earlier ILO December meeting in Chiang Mai on occupational safety and health (OSH), the Rayong workshop will concentrate on: