Optimizing Productivity at Safe and Healthy Workplaces through Social Dialogue

PORT OF SPAIN (ILO News) – High-level representatives of the Ministries of Labour, and of employers’ and workers’ organizations of CARICOM member countries and English- and Dutch-speaking territories will meet at the ILO Sub-regional Tripartite Meeting under the theme, Optimizing Productivity at Safe and Healthy Workplaces through Social Dialogue, on 17 and 18 October 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Occupational safety and health (OSH), productivity, and social dialogue are three key elements of the Decent Work Agenda, and much work has been undertaken in these three areas in recent years by the ILO’s Caribbean constituents, with technical and financial assistance from the ILO. These three key elements provide the basis for the development of sustainable enterprises and for the creation of more and better jobs, particularly for young people.

The agenda for the two-day Meeting will cover topics related to the development of a strategic approach to occupational safety and health based on the principles of the ILO’s Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 187). Convention No. 187 provides for:

• using a management systems approach for a preventative culture at all levels;
• sharing tools in the field of occupational safety and health in the Caribbean, from which participants can gain new ideas for application in their own countries;
• discussing productivity in the context of the global financial crisis, and possible solutions;
• enhancing productivity at the workplace level, and thereby contributing to improving national competitiveness; and
• social dialogue as a mechanism for achieving positive outcomes with respect to OSH, productivity, and work-related areas.

The expected outcomes of the Meeting are:

• strengthened capacity of the ILO’s tripartite constituents in the Caribbean for active participation in national consultations for the development of effective OSH policies and programmes;
• enhanced knowledge of good practices in the Caribbean, and of the ILO’s tools and programmes for promoting safe workplaces and increased productivity; and
• increased awareness of the role of social dialogue in the creation of safe and productive workplaces.

A specific output from the Meeting will be the selection of priorities, linked to National Plans of Action and Decent Work Country Programmes. The Conclusions of the Meeting will be developed, and will feed into the discussions of Caribbean Ministers of Labour during a one-day Meeting on Friday, 19 October, following the Sub-regional Tripartite Meeting. The one-day Meeting is intended to provide the Ministers with the opportunity to hold discussions on these and other issues of interest to the region.