Over the past decades significant advances have been made in occupational safety and health (OSH) as many more countries have realised its importance and the need to give higher priority to preventing accidents and ill-health at work. Thus an unprecedented amount of information about occupational risks and how to manage them is now available, much of it on-line, and OSH appears to be better managed in many enterprises. Consequently, numbers of serious accidents appear to be declining globally although the picture for occupational ill-health is less encouraging.

Nevertheless, many workers globally still face unhealthy and unsafe working conditions and the recent economic crisis and recession have also threatened to undermine these achievements. Some categories of workers such as migrants, temporary workers and those in the informal economy are facing more dramatic consequences of this situation. Others face greater psychosocial risks at work due to the intensification of work, outsourcing and restructuring and the fear to lose their jobs; the impact of such conditions on workers’ stress and mental health and in society at large can be considerable.

Investing in OSH clearly has major implications for enterprises but also for governments, OSH inspection services, occupational health services, social security and educational and training institutions. All stakeholders thus need to be committed to invest in OSH, accepting it as a vital component of good management and performance rather than a burden on businesses

This Introductory Report concerns some of the achievements and challenges of the last three years for building such a preventative safety and health culture.

Publisher website

www.ilo.org/safework/info/publications/lang--en/docName--WCMS_162662/index.htm