SIXTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

Report of the Meeting of Experts on Workers' Health Surveillance

(Geneva, 2-9 September 1997)

1. The Meeting of Experts on Workers' Health Surveillance was held in Geneva from 2 to 9 September 1997. Eighteen experts were invited to take part in the Meeting, six of whom were appointed following consultations with governments, six after consultations with the Employers' group and six after consultations with the Workers' group of the Governing Body. The Meeting was attended by all 18 experts as well as by several observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental international organizations.

2. The agenda of the Meeting, as approved by the Governing Body at its 267th Session (November 1996), was as follows:

1. Current practice and the role of health surveillance in the protection and promotion of workers' health.

2. Preparation of guidelines on the technical and ethical aspects of workers' health surveillance.

3. The Meeting reviewed practice worldwide regarding workers' health surveillance, and adopted unanimously the report of the Meeting⁽¹⁾  and the Technical and Ethical Guidelines for Workers' Health Surveillance, which are appended.

4. The Meeting also recommended publicizing the principles embodied in the Guidelines and encouraging their use in member States. It urged the ILO to develop a strategy to ensure that the Guidelines were taken into account in efforts to promote occupational health for all. The Meeting reaffirmed the objective set by the relevant provisions of the Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161), of extending occupational health services progressively to all workers, and emphasized the need for access for all workers, including the self-employed, to health surveillance.

5. The Governing Body is invited to take note of the report of the Meeting of Experts on Workers' Health Surveillance and to authorize the Director-General to publish and distribute the report of the Meeting and the Technical and Ethical Guidelines for Workers' Health Surveillance to --

(c) others as appropriate.

6. The Governing Body may wish to request the Director-General to bear in mind, when drawing up future proposals for the programme and budget, the recommendations for future action adopted by the Meeting, contained in paragraphs 29 to 43 of the report of the Meeting.

Geneva, 14 October 1997.

Points for decision:

Paragraph 5;
Paragraph 6.

1.  MEHS/1997/D.1.

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