World Day for Safety and Health at Work2015. Building a culture of prevention on occupational safety and health

While the media eventually move on to other topics, working in hazardous conditions is actually a daily, routine and unseen affair for many workers.The numbers are striking. Over 313 million workers suffer non-fatal occupational injuries each year, equating to 860,000 people injured on the job daily. Every single day, 6,400 people die from an occupational accident or disease,amounting to 2.3 million deaths each year. Work-related accidents or diseases can definitely be placed in the high-burden category of all global health problems.

Economic recession or pressure to maximize profits cannot justify cutting corners in workplace safety. Actually, failure to do so comes at a high price.Four per cent of global gross domestic product, equivalent to an astounding US$2.8 trillion, is drained off annually by costs related to lost working time, interruptions in production, treatment of occupational injuries and diseases, rehabilitation and compensation.

A long-standing ILO priority, occupational safety and health was recognized as a fundamental human right in the 2008 Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work. It is time to turn this human right into reality for workers everywhere.

Good governance on occupational safety and health shows that prevention pays. Today, on the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the ILOcalls for urgent action to build a culture of prevention on occupational safety and health.

What does a national culture of prevention on occupational safety and health involve?
1. Respecting at all levels the right to a safe and healthy working environment;
2. Active participationof all stakeholders in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties; and
3. According the highest priority to the principle of prevention.

How do we build and maintain a culture of prevention? It must be founded on the engagement of many partners: governments, workers and employers and their organizations, specialists and experts.Constructive dialogue among these groups promotes consensus building and democratic involvement of those with a vital stake in the world of work.