Safety and Health in Agriculture

Belgium ratifies the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184)

News | 10 November 2015
Today, the Government of Belgium deposited the instrument of ratification of the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 (No. 184).

Upon receipt of the instrument of ratification, Guy Ryder, Director General of the International Labour Office (ILO), said: “I am pleased to welcome Belgium among the States party to Convention No. 184 on safety and health in agriculture, which is one of the three most hazardous employment sectors in the world, the others being mining and construction. By ratifying Convention No. 184, the Government of Belgium indicates its commitment to ensuring the sustained and continuous improvement of the safety and health of agricultural workers in the country. It is my hope that this ratification will encourage other countries to do the same in the near future, with a view to preventing accidents and occupational diseases in such an essential sector of every country’s economy.”

When depositing the instrument of ratification, Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe, Permanent Representative of Belgium to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, said: “By ratifying Convention N° 184, Belgium demonstrates its commitment to guaranteeing a comprehensive protection with regard to the particular situation of agricultural workers, as Belgium has already ratified the Right of Association (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 11), the Rural Workers’ Organisations Convention, 1975 (No. 141), and the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129). Belgium also desires, through this new ratification, to show the significant importance it attaches to the normative system of the ILO.”

Agriculture is carried out in some form in every country in the world, with over a billion people employed in the sector worldwide. Workers in the agricultural sector face numerous risk factors at work, including the use machinery, hazardous chemicals, and ergonomic hazards. In several countries, the fatal accident rate in agriculture is double the average for all other industries, with about 170,000 of the 335,000 fatal workplace accidents worldwide each year occurring among agricultural workers. Convention No. 184 aims to prevent occupational injuries, diseases and deaths in agriculture by applying the principles of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) to the specific risks and hazards of this sector.

Ratified by 16 member states so far, Convention No. 184 asks governments to adopt and review a policy on safety and health in agriculture, sets out the measures to be taken by employers to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work, and sets out the rights and obligations of workers towards a safe and healthy working environment.

To date, Belgium has ratified 106 international labour Conventions and 1 Protocol, which places Belgium, with the Netherlands, in sixth rank of the countries with the highest number of ratifications of ILO instruments. For further information, see:
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