A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right at work
At its 110th Session in June 2022, the International Labour Conference decided to amend paragraph 2 of the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work (1998) to include “a safe and healthy working environment” as a fundamental principle and right at work, and to make consequential amendments to the ILO Declaration on Social Justice for a Fair Globalization (2008) and the Global Jobs Pact (2009).
This historic decision was the result of a process that formally started in 2019, when the Conference recognized, through the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work that “safe and healthy working conditions are fundamental to decent work” and requested the ILO Governing Body, in the accompanying Resolution on the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, “to consider, as soon as possible, proposals for including safe and healthy working conditions in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work”.
With the adoption of the Resolution on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work, the International Labour Conference decided to designate the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) as fundamental Conventions. These two conventions describe the core principles and rights in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) and serve as the basis for the more advanced safety and health measures described in other OSH instruments.
All Members, even if they have not ratified these two conventions, now have an obligation arising from the very fact of membership in the ILO to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith and in accordance with the ILO Constitution, the principles concerning the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment.
The Office will support Members to progressively respect and realize the preventive principles contained in Convention, Nos 155 and 187 promoting the development and implementation of national OSH policies, programmes and systems and the establishment of a national preventative safety and health culture. In addition, a vital tool to ensure a safe and healthy working environment is the active implementation of an efficient and effective occupational safety and health management system.
This historic decision was the result of a process that formally started in 2019, when the Conference recognized, through the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work that “safe and healthy working conditions are fundamental to decent work” and requested the ILO Governing Body, in the accompanying Resolution on the ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, “to consider, as soon as possible, proposals for including safe and healthy working conditions in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work”.
With the adoption of the Resolution on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work, the International Labour Conference decided to designate the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) as fundamental Conventions. These two conventions describe the core principles and rights in the field of occupational safety and health (OSH) and serve as the basis for the more advanced safety and health measures described in other OSH instruments.
All Members, even if they have not ratified these two conventions, now have an obligation arising from the very fact of membership in the ILO to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith and in accordance with the ILO Constitution, the principles concerning the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment.
The Office will support Members to progressively respect and realize the preventive principles contained in Convention, Nos 155 and 187 promoting the development and implementation of national OSH policies, programmes and systems and the establishment of a national preventative safety and health culture. In addition, a vital tool to ensure a safe and healthy working environment is the active implementation of an efficient and effective occupational safety and health management system.