Publications & technical tools

2015

  1. Child labour in Afghanistan

    Breaking the mould - Occupational safety hazards faced by children working in brick kilns in Afghanistan

    13 April 2015

    This report seeks to provide useful information to assist the development of policy and of practical interventions to protect the safety, health and well-being of children above the minimum working age (14 in Afghanistan) in the brick kilns; to facilitate the removal from child labour of children below that age and access to free basic education for all children under the minimum age and for all children removed from worst forms of child labour. The study also assesses the financial impact of health problems on families, studying the amount of debt owed by families to medical service providers and the types of illness which cause such debt.

2014

  1. World Day for Safety and Health at Work

    Safety and health in the use of chemicals at work

    28 April 2014

    This report for the 2014 celebration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work reviews the current situation regarding the use of chemicals and their impact in workplaces and the environment, including various national, regional, and international efforts to address them. The report also presents the elements for establishing national and enterprise level programmes that contribute to ensure the sound management of chemicals at work.

  2. Working conditions

    Employment practices and working conditions in Thailand’s fishing sector

    24 February 2014

    The report, based on the largest survey of working conditions in the Thai fishing sector to date, has been compiled by the ILO’s tripartite project to protect migrant workers within and from the Greater Mekong Subregion and the Asian Research Center for Migration at Chulalongkorn University’s Institute of Asian Studies.

2013

  1. Publication

    The Prevention of Occupational Diseases

    25 March 2013

    The report highlights occupational safety and health (OSH) as an integral part of the promotion of the prevention of occupational diseases.

2012

  1. Publication

    The global impact of e-waste: Addressing the challenge

    20 December 2012

    This paper explores the volumes, sources and flows of e-waste, the risks it poses to e-waste workers and the environment, occupational safety and health issues, labour issues and regulatory frameworks, and links this growing global problem with the International Labour Organization’s current and future work.

  2. Publication

    Promoting safety and health in a green economy

    16 April 2012

    The report highlights occupational safety and health (OSH) as an integral part of the promotion of green jobs and a greener economy to achieve an economic and social development that is also environmentally sustainable.

2011

  1. Publication

    Children in hazardous work: What we know, what we need to do

    10 June 2011

    This report reviews the current state of knowledge concerning children in hazardous work and presents the case for a new focus on the issue as part of the wider global effort to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. For more information on this report or to order copies, please contact pubvente@ilo.org.

  2. Briefing note

    Radiation safety and protection of workers in nuclear and radiological emergency operations

    14 April 2011

    Workers working in response to the emergency at the site of the Fukushima Daiichi's nuclear plant are exposed to traditional OSH risks including explosion and fire as well as to radiation. The International Basic Safety Standards for Protection against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources (BSS) provide a worldwide basis for harmonized radiation protection standards that complement the ILO Convention No. 115 and for the protection of workers engaged in nuclear and radiological emergency operation.

  3. Publication

    Criteria for use in preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency: General safety guide

    01 February 2011

    This Safety Guide is intended to assist Member States in the application of the Safety Requirements publication on Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency (IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GS-R-2), and to help in the fulfilment of the IAEA’s obligations under the Assistance Convention. It provides generic criteria for protective actions and other response actions in the case of a nuclear or radiological emergency, including numerical values of these criteria. It also presents operational criteria derived from specific generic criteria.

2010

  1. Publication

    Green jobs in construction: Small changes – big effect

    01 December 2010

    Construction was the first specific sector of the economy to be addressed in the ILO’s Green Jobs Initiative. The sector is responsible for 25-40 per cent of global energy use, and 30–40 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Andrew Bibby, a London-based journalist, reports from the suburb of Khayelitsha, Cape Town’s largest informal settlement, where the Kuyasa Initiative has targeted 2,000 homes for basic energy-saving measures, creating jobs at the same time.

  2. Publication

    Joint WHO/ILO policy guidelines on improving health worker access to prevention, treatment and care services for HIV and TB

    28 April 2010

    The primary purpose of these guidelines is to draw together previously developed clinical and policy guidelines, along with recent evidence, into a coherent set of recommendations that aim to provide improved access of health workers to HIV and TB services.

2007

  1. Publication

    Background information for developing an ILO policy framework for hazardous substances

    22 November 2007

    Document for discussion at the Meeting of Experts to Examine Instruments, Knowledge, Advocacy, Technical Cooperation and International Collaboration as Tools with a view to Developing a Policy Framework for Hazardous Substances

  2. Publication

    Arrangements for preparedness for a nuclear or radiological emergency: Safety guide

    04 July 2007

    This Safety Guide is intended to assist states in the application of the Safety Requirements publication on Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency and to help in fulfilling the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) obligations under the Assistance Convention. In fulfilling its functions under the Assistance Convention and Early Notification Convention, the IAEA works together with other international organizations within an Inter-Agency Committee for Response to Nuclear Accidents (IACRNA). IACRNA has cooperated in the establishment of common requirements for preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency.

2006

  1. Publication

    Fundamental safety principles: Safety fundamentals

    07 November 2006

    The objective of this publication is to establish the fundamental safety objective, safety principles and concepts that provide the bases for the IAEA’s safety standards and its safety related programme. Related requirements are established in the Safety Requirements publications. Guidance on meeting these requirements is provided in the related Safety Guides.

2002

  1. Publication

    Preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency : Safety requirements

    01 November 2002

    This Safety Requirements publication establishes the requirements for an adequate level of preparedness and response for a nuclear or radiological emergency in any State. Their implementation is intended to minimize the consequences for people, property and the environment of any nuclear or radiological emergency.

  2. Second edition

    Children at work: Health and safety risks

    01 January 2002

    This second edition of this useful and informative book provides an approach to the protection of children through the development of a programme on occupational safety and health specifically addressed to working children. It illustrates how this can be done within a framework of a national policy aimed at the elimination of child labour.

2001

  1. Sectoral working papers, 167

    Worker safety in the ship-breaking industries

    01 February 2001

    This issues paper highlights the procedures and practices adopted in the disposal of obsolete ships originating from the world fleet of merchant vessels with an emphasis on occupational safety and health (OSH) issues and on environmental aspects as shipbreaking is undertaken today by the world-breaking majors on beachheads in Asia.

1990

  1. Occupational Safety and Health Series, No. 64

    Safety in the use of mineral and synthetic fibres

    01 December 1990

    The present document discusses safety and health in the use of mineral and synthetic fibres at work, taking due account of the relevant international instruments. It is an ILO contribution to the International Programme on Chemical Safety (a collaborative programme of the United Nations Environment Programme, the ILO, and the World Health Organization).