In a sobering revelation, the International Labour Organization (ILO) unveils a report indicating a substantial surge in work-related deaths, totalling close to three million each year. The findings illuminate the enduring global hurdles in ensuring the health and safety of workers, prompting a call for immediate collaborative action.
WORK-RELATED MORTALITY SPIKE
- The report exposes a 5% upswing in work-related deaths since 2015, reaching a staggering 2.6 million attributed to work-related diseases.
- An additional 330,000 deaths are linked to work accidents, underscoring the complex landscape of occupational hazards.
PRIMARY CAUSES OF FATALITY
Circulatory diseases, malignant neoplasms, and respiratory diseases emerge as the foremost culprits of work-related death, jointly contributing to over three-quarters of total mortality.
GENDER DISCREPANCIES
- Men face a heightened risk, with 51.4 work-related deaths per 100,000 working-age adults, in contrast to women with 17.2 per 100,000.
- The Asia-Pacific region shoulders the greatest work-related mortality burden, encompassing 63% of the global total.
PERILOUS SECTORS
- Agriculture, construction, forestry, fishing, and manufacturing are singled out as the most hazardous sectors, encapsulating 63% of all fatal occupational injuries.
- Agricultural workers, notably, confront substantial risks, constituting one in three fatal occupational injuries.
ILO’S GLOBAL STRATEGY
To tackle these challenges and prioritize worker well-being, the ILO introduces the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health for 2024-2030. The strategy is underpinned by three key pillars:
Elevating National OSH Frameworks:
Strengthening national Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) frameworks by bolstering governance, endorsing reliable data, and fostering competency.
Fortifying Coordination and Investment:
Encouraging heightened coordination, partnerships, and investments in OSH at both national and global echelons.
Augmenting Workplace OSH Management:
Propagating ILO-OSH 2001 principles, crafting gender-transformative guidance, and tailoring strategies to address specific hazards, risks, sectors, and occupations.
The ILO’s report serves as an urgent call to address and enhance workplace safety on a global scale. The introduction of the Global Strategy underscores a commitment to social justice and decent work, urging nations and organizations to collaborate fervently in forging safer and healthier working environments. These alarming findings will be presented at the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Sydney, Australia.