International Occupational Safety and Health Knowledge Base

Key resources

1. 

   Online edition

   Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety

   Knowledge platform

   The Encyclopaedia website is a cutting-edge global knowledge platform for sharing OSH information and good practices. This online book of facts and knowledge is also connected to a wide variety of ILO and third party OSH information resources, such as standards and regulations, databases, and guides. New arrangements for the continuing update and extension of the content are currently being established. New chapters and articles will be featured already in 2013.

1. 

   Legislation

   Database on Occupational Safety and Health Legislation (LEGOSH)

   Global database

   The database compiles the wealth of legislation in OSH and serves as a snapshot of the current major national legislative requirements around the globe. Constituents and interested parties are provided with a source of reliable and targeted information for making educated decisions. The compilation allows countries to learn from more advanced laws and criteria and it  facilitates undertaking comparative research on specific indicators. Policy briefs and fact sheets can be developed based on the available data. LEGOSH can also be used as a tool for monitoring and mapping large-scale trends.

2. 

   Safe use of chemicals

   International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSC)

   Data sheets

   The cards are data sheets intended to provide essential safety and health information on chemicals in a clear and concise way. The primary aim of the cards is to promote the safe use of chemicals in the workplace. The main target users are workers and those responsible for occupational safety and health.

3. 

   Terminology

   Occupational Safety and Health Thesaurus (CISTHES)

   Thesaurus

   This information system on OSH terminology represents a source of terms used to index content available on various knowledge and information platforms, such as bulletins and databases. It can also supply "meta" tags for indexing webpages. Its system of facet codes has been used to organize OSH libraries.

4. 

   Terminology

   Occupational Safety and Health Glossary

   Glossary

   The glossary includes aproximately 2,600 specialised terms and expressions in five languages and is aimed at translators, interpreters and safety and health practitioners. The alphabetical list  features terms from diverse subject areas such as engineering, medicine, law, physics, chemistry, and psychology.

5. 

   Occupational hazards

   Hazard Datasheets on Occupations (HDO)

   Data sheets

   A multipurpose information resource containing information on the hazards, risks and notions of prevention related to a specific occupation. The datasheets are intended for those professionally concerned with health and safety at work.

6. 

   Literature

   CISDOC - Archived bibliographic database

   Archived database

   CISDOC contains more than 70,000 citations of documents in many languages from various countries that deal with occupational accidents and diseases as well as ways of preventing them. The types of referenced documents are: laws and regulations, chemical safety data sheets, training materials, articles from periodical publications, books and standards, etc.

Standards and other instruments

1. 

   The ILO has adopted more than 40 standards specifically dealing with OSH, as well as over 40 Codes of Practice. Nearly half of the ILO instruments deal directly or indirectly with safety and health at work.

2. 

   Conventions and Recommendations

   International labour standards are legal instruments drawn up by the ILO's constituents. Standards on OSH provide essential tools for governments, employers, and workers to establish sound prevention, reporting and inspection practices and to provide for maximum health and safety at work.

   1. Plan of action (2010-2016) to achieve widespread ratification and effective implementation of the occupational safety and health instruments (Convention No. 155, its 2002 Protocol and Convention No. 187)
3. 

   Codes of Practice

   Codes of Practice set out practical guidelines for public authorities, employers' and workers' organizations, enterprises, practitioners and specialized bodies. They provide guidance on safety and health at work in certain economic sectors, on protecting workers against certain hazards, and on specific OSH measures.

4. Guidelines

   1. Guidelines on occupational safety and health management systems (ILO-OSH 2001)
   2. Technical and ethical guidelines for workers' health surveillance