GENEVA (ILO News) –The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has ratified today 20 Instruments of the International Labour Organization – 18 conventions and 2 protocols, most of which are related to occupational safety and health. A combined ratification of such magnitude is relatively rare in the history of the ILO. As a result, Luxembourg has now ratified a hundred ILO Instruments.

A few weeks before World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April, Luxembourg is joining the vast majority of European Union countries with respect to the ratification record of occupational safety and health Conventions.

According to the ILO more than 6,000 workers die each day worldwide as a result of work-related accidents or illness, and some 270 million people are affected by non-fatal accidents every year, each resulting in at least three days’ absence from work. In European Union countries, the cost of compensation, healthcare and invalidity for these work-related accidents is significant, representing up to 3.8 per cent the GDP in the region. Social security safety and health strategies can reverse this trend and contribute to a “global culture of prevention”.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has ratified the following Conventions:

N° 115 concerning the Protection of Workers against Ionising Radiations (1960)

N° 119 concerning the Guarding of Machinery (1963)

N° 120 concerning Hygiene in Commerce and Offices (1964)

N° 127 concerning the Maximum Permissible Weight to Be Carried by One Worker (1967)

N° 129 concerning Labour Inspection in Agriculture (1969)

N° 136 concerning Protection against Hazards of Poisoning Arising from Benzene (1970)

N° 139 concerning Prevention and Control of Occupational Hazards caused by Carcinogenic Substances and Agents (1974)

N° 148 concerning the Protection of Workers against Occupational Hazards in the Working Environment Due to Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration (1977

N° 149 concerning Employment and Conditions of Work and Life of Nursing Personnel (1977)

N° 161 concerning Occupational Health Services (1985)

N° 162 concerning Safety in the Use of Asbestos (1986)

N° 167 concerning Safety and Health in Construction (1988)

N° 170 concerning Safety in the use of Chemicals at Work (1990)

N° 171 concerning Night Work (1990)

N° 174 concerning the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents (1993)

N° 176 concerning Safety and Health in Mines (1995)

N° 183 concerning the revision of the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (2000)

N° 184 concerning Safety and Health in Agriculture (2001)

In addition, Luxembourg also ratified the Protocols related to Convention No. 81 concerning Labour Inspection in Industry and Commerce and No. 155 concerning Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment.

“These ratifications reflect the growing interest of the Government of Luxembourg to translate international labour standards adopted to guarantee decent work into national legislation. The fields covered by these standards include safety and health at work, the extension of labour inspection and maternity protection. Luxembourg has again showed its commitment to promote the values of the ILO”, concludes Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, Director of the International Labour Standards Department of the ILO.