Istanbul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work

Ministers of Labour, having met in Istanbul, Turkey, on the occasion of the Summit of the Ministers of Labour for a Preventative Culture hosted by the Minister of Labour and Social Security of Turkey, held on the 11 of September 2011 prior to the opening of the XIX World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, issued the following declaration.

Documento de reunión | 11 de septiembre de 2011
Recalling that generating continuous improvement in working conditions is of paramount importance and promoting the rights of workers to a safe and healthy working environment should be recognized as a fundamental human right,
Recognizing the importance of strengthening sustainable cooperation among national and international organizations and institutions,
Welcoming progress achieved through national and international efforts to improve safety and health at work,
Recognizing the importance of the instruments on safety and health at work of the International Labour Organization,
Recognizing the historic importance of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work adopted by the Safety and Health Summit on 29 June 2008 on the occasion of the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work,
Declare:
1. Promoting high levels of safety and health at work is the responsibility of ministries of labour and society as a whole, and that ministers of labour must contribute in achieving this goal by ensuring that priority is given to occupational safety and health in national agendas and by building strong and sustained national preventative safety and health culture on a continuous basis,
2. The building and promotion of a sustainable national preventative safety and health culture should be ensured through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties where the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention and where governments, employers and workers are actively involved in securing a safe and healthy working environment at all levels,
3. The Summit participants state their full and unconditional support to the background and objectives of the Seoul Declaration joining the original signatories in support of the Seoul Declaration and
4. The Summit participants commit themselves to take the lead in promoting a preventative safety and health culture worldwide, and to place occupational safety and health high in their national and regional agendas.