News, articles and statements
April 2011
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Statement
Message by Juan Somavia on the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work
26 April 2011
On this Day we recall that every year around 337 million people are victims of work accidents and more than 2.3 million people die because of occupational injuries or work-related diseases.
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Press release
World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2011 - Worldwide events to focus on safety and health management systems for prevention and control of risks at work
26 April 2011
Events will be held around the world to mark the annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work this year, amid a renewed effort by the International Labour Office (ILO) to emphasize the value of occupational safety and health management systems for continually improving prevention and control of risks at work.
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Article
World Day for Safety and Health at Work - OSH Management system: A tool for continual improvement
26 April 2011
Each year, governments, employers and workers mark the World Day for Safety and Health. This year’s theme for the day is “Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Management System: A tool for continual improvement”. Improvement is in fact needed: according to ILO data, an estimated 337 million workplace accidents and 2.3 million deaths occur per year, or some 6,300 deaths every day. ILO Online examines how OSH management systems can make a difference.
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ILO Statement to the 44th Commission on Population and Development
Safety risks and discrimination pose serious threats to maternity in the workplace
15 April 2011
Women continue to face dismissal and discrimination in hiring on the basis of maternity, while some workplace environments pose hazards to reproductive health.
March 2011
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Video
Interview with Mr. Peter Herzig, Representative of the European Union Head of Delegation to the Republic of Zambia and to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
09 March 2011
A tripartite workshop on the development of a national occupational safety and health programme for Zambia took place in Lusaka on 9-11 March 2011. By the end of the workshop, participants identified and described the strengths and challenges for OSH in Zambia; identified and analyzed the priorities for action in order to improve the OSH system; and put in place a roadmap that would lead to the development and eventual adoption of a National OSH Programme for Zambia. The interview was aired during prime time on Muvi TV in Zambia on 9 March 2011.
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Video
Interview with Mr. Leonard Hikaumba, President of the Zambia Confederation of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
09 March 2011
A tripartite workshop on the development of a national occupational safety and health programme for Zambia took place in Lusaka on 9-11 March 2011. By the end of the workshop, participants identified and described the strengths and challenges for OSH in Zambia; identified and analyzed the priorities for action in order to improve the OSH system; and put in place a roadmap that would lead to the development and eventual adoption of a National OSH Programme for Zambia. The interview was aired during prime time on Muvi TV in Zambia on 9 March 2011.
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Article
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and International Women’s Day: 100 years on
08 March 2011
The first International Women’s Day commemorated a demonstration by women workers in New York in 1857. But what established the modern celebration of International Women’s Day in history, was the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York on 25 March 1911 that killed 146 young women workers, most of whom were immigrants. From the ashes of that tragic event, the pursuit of social justice for women and men ignited that day continues be felt around the world 100 years on. From New York, ILO On-line reports on the fire that changed everything.
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Video News Release
100th International Women’s Day
07 March 2011
As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, we also remember the women who lost their lives in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York in 1911. One hundred years on, despite some progress there is still much to be done to achieve gender equality in the world of work.
February 2011
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Article
“Any fool can stuff a container?”: ILO to discuss safety in growing container industry
14 February 2011
The container shipping market represents about 16 per cent of the world’s goods loaded in tonnes. With its growing market share, the risk of accidents also increases, says a report prepared for an ILO Global Dialogue Forum on Safety in the Supply Chain in Relation to Packing of Containers, to be held in Geneva on 21-22 February 2011. The meeting will try to find a common approach throughout the supply chain to ensure the application of the appropriate standards for packing containers.
December 2010
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News
ILO and EU to launch new project on improving safety and health at work
02 December 2010
Responding to a pressing need to improve the safety and health of workers, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the European Union are launching a new project aimed at reducing occupational accidents and diseases in six countries in Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Moldova), Africa (Zambia and Malawi) and Central America (Honduras and Nicaragua).
November 2010
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Press Briefing
Joint ILO-WHO-UNAIDS Policy Guidelines on Improving Health Workers' Access to HIV and TB Prevention: Press Conference
19 November 2010
Dr. Sophia Kisting, Director of the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS and the World of Work, Ms. Elizabeth Tinoco, Director of the ILO Sectoral Activities Department and Ms. Susan Wilburn, from the WHO Occupational & Environmental Health Department, launched the Joint ILO-WHO-UNAIDS Policy Guidelines on Improving Health Workers' Access to HIV and TB Prevention, at a press conference in Geneva. The new guidelines are designed to help national health systems protect health workers who are too often exposed to hazards of infection in their workplace.
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Caring for the carers
International guidelines launched to protect health workers against HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
19 November 2010
New international guidelines launched by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) aimed at protecting health workers from occupational exposure to HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis (TB) and providing access to prevention, treatment and care.
October 2010
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Safety and health
Experts adopt new ILO Code of Practice on safety and health in agriculture
29 October 2010
Experts representing workers, employers and governments, meeting at the International Labour Organization (ILO), have adopted a new draft Code of Practice on Safety and Health in Agriculture designed to improve working conditions in agriculture which employs some one billion workers worldwide.
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ILO in the media
CNN Interviews Juan Somavia During Rescue of Chilean Miners
13 October 2010
CNN's Richard Quest interviews Juan Somavia, the ILO's Director-General and former Chilean ambassador to the United Nations, about the rescue of the Chilean miners and the hazards of working in the mining industry.
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Video interview
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia highlights the courage of the 33 Chilean miners
13 October 2010
With the rescue team still at work, ILO Director General Juan Somavia spoke with ILO TV and emphasized the strength and courage of the 33 trapped Chilean miners, their families and the Chilean people who together made possible what seemed so impossible.
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Press release
ILO Director-General celebrates rescue operation of trapped Chilean miners
13 October 2010
The Director-General of the International Labour Organization, Juan Somavia, has expressed his deep emotion over the rescue operation to free the 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months in a mine in northern Chile.
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Statement
ILO Director-General Juan Somavia expresses his emotion over the rescue operation of Chilean miners
13 October 2010
The Director-General of ILO, Juan Somavia, has issued a statement expressing his emotion over the rescue operation to free the 33 miners that have been trapped underground for more than two months in the San José mine, in Chile.
July 2010
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Video interview
Occupational Health for Health Workers: An Interview with Julia Lear
06 July 2010
ILO TV interviews Julia Lear, Health Services Specialist in the ILO's Sectoral Activities Department about a joint ILO and WHO tripartite experts meeting on HIV, TB and other occupational health issues for health workers.
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Video
HIV/AIDS and Health Care Workers: An Interview with Anna Torriente
05 July 2010
ILO TV interviews ILOAIDS Senior Legal Officer Anna Torriente about health care workplaces and HIV/AIDS in light of a new international labour standard on HIV/AIDS in the world of work. The ILO and WHO are to hold a joint tripartite experts meeting on HIV, TB & other occupational health for health workers, which will include a discussion on the ILO labour standard.