GENEVA - From Waterloo, Iowa to Wellington, New Zealand, workers and employers, union and government officials remembered their co-workers killed or injured on the job.
There was much to consider - according to the latest ILO report ( Note 3), published for the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, some 6,000 workers a day, or one every 15 seconds, die from occupational accidents and disease.
Around the world, solemn events marked the death and illness which occur daily in the world of work.
In Waterloo, Iowa, dozens of workers met in the Black Hawk Union Council to remember those killed on the job and read aloud the names of each of 31 fallen Iowa workers, to taps played by a bugler.
"Work-related accidents and illnesses worldwide cause more deaths than war," the Waterloo Courier quoted Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson as saying, citing the ILO report. "That is astounding."
Meanwhile, across the globe in Wellington, New Zealand, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions organized a rally outside the city's main train station, distributing flyers urging "commitment to everyone's health and safety".
Major events were held in Finland, where President Tarja Halonen told a conference of workers, employers, sports activists, actors and others, "Governments, employers and workers all have an interest in safe and healthy workplaces. It offers a sound basis for successful social dialogue and consensus building." In Russia, occupational safety and health centres organized safety competitions. Ethiopian government ministers, workers and employers joined together in Addis Ababa to light candles commemorating fallen workers. In Thailand, ILO experts gave live interviews on television and radio about occupational safety and health.
The "Bhopal factor"
This year's commemoration coincided with the 20th anniversary of one of the worst chemical disasters on record, the 1984 gas leak from a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, which killed 2,500 people, injured over 200,000 outright, and eventually caused an additional 20,000 deaths.
Safe Work and Safety Culture,* the special ILO report prepared for the Day by the ILO InFocus Programme on Safety and Health at Work and the Environment (SafeWork), says that despite the outcry which followed the Bhopal disaster and increased attention to the dangers of industrial accidents, the potential for major disasters and accidents remains real and requires a wide-ranging response.
Some 2.2 million work-related fatalities and 60 million work-related illnesses occur annually, 400,000 of which are attributable to hazardous substances. This grim toll requires more effective hazard control, in line with ILO Conventions and the implementation of practical safety measures, as the first steps towards creating a global "safety culture".
"I strongly believe that this is one of the most fertile areas for reaching consensus in the world of work," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia in his message for the Day.
Note 3: Safe Work and Safety Culture, ILO Report for the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, 2004 (see www.ilo.org/safework)