International health and safety standards after Brexit (original) (raw)
Related papers
Improved occupational safety and health (OSH) is a major challenge for the trade union movement. When surveyed about what they expect from their unions, most workers list occupational health as a top priority. Action in this regard is complex, however. First, there is the essential day-to-day work undertaken by the unions in the workplace. This is reinforced by networking the experiences of particular sectors with regard to specific or regional issues. There are numerous links between occupational health issues and other union objectives (democracy in the workplace, gender equality, environmental protection, etc.). In addition, the need to act across borders is increasing in line with international trade, globalisation and EU enlargement. All these developments demonstrate the importance of cross-border trade union cooperation and the production of joint strategies. This guide is aimed primarily at worker representatives responsible for health and safety at work and union officials involved in this area. It will also be useful to anyone with an interest in EU policy developments or involved in preventing occupational risks. It gives an overview of the background to, principle actors in, and essential tools of, EU occupational health and safety policy with the aim of contributing to a better understanding of this policy and of facilitating effective intervention at European level. The information is up-to-date as of the end of March 2015. Our Institute’s information tools, such as HesaMag magazine, the Hesamail e-newsletter and our website, will provide regular updates of any changes.
Securing Compliance: Some Lessons for EU Strategy on Occupational Health and Safety
European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) Research Paper Series, 2021
This paper discusses fi review of recent literature on support for securing compliance and better practice in occupational safety and health (OSH) in the changing world of work in advanced market economies. It explores innovative responses of regulators and private actors to the challenges created by these changes, as well as considering their impact on further forms of support for good practice, such as provided by prevention services and OSH professionals. Although the review is based on a wide-ranging search of the literature in English, its discussion is focused on implications for prevention policies in the European Union. In particular, it considers the extent to which the literature suggests that the current strategic framework for supporting compliance — via EU policies over the past two decades, with a new Strategic Framework anticipated in 2021 — can be said to address these challenges effectively. Not surprisingly, it finds that the literature reveals some gaps between th...
Oman Chapter of Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 2013
This article attempts to provide a broad overview of the importance of Occupational health and Safety within the workplace. Health and Safety is critical to the functioning and the creation of safe working environment for all workers and employees. The article attempts to construct an overview of OHSA No 85 of 1993 by dealing with a number of responsibilities that is applicable to the employer in terms of the Act. It also sets out to contextualise the importance from a global perspective by raising and discussing the World Health Organisation in terms of a model and framework for a healthy workplace. Numerous statistics have been provided and estimates in terms of the impact of the International Labour Organisation.
The regulation of health and safety in Britain: from old Labour to new Labour
Industrial Relations Journal, 2000
The year 1999 will see the twenty-fifth anniversary of the passage of the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA) 1974. The election of the current Labour government has raised questions about a possible revocation of previous deregulation initiatives, as well as the possibility of a reform of existing health and safety legislation. 1 As yet, only a few of the deregulation measures of the previous administration, such as the 'minded to' procedures, prior to health and safety enforcement have been reversed. The expectation of further changes is perhaps not without grounds. The history of health and safety regulation in the United Kingdom has been marked by a close connection between the balance of power between capital and labour, and legislative initiatives. The passage of the Factories Act of 1937, for instance, can be linked to the resurgence of labour organisations from 1933 onwards. 2
International Labour Standards on Occupational safety and health
The ILO Constitution sets forth the principle that workers should be protected from sickness, disease and injury arising from their employment. Yet for millions of workers the reality is very different. Some two million people die every year from work-related accidents and diseases. An estimated 160 million people suffer from work-related diseases, and there are an estimated 270 million fatal and non-fatal work-related accidents per year. The suffering caused by such accidents and illnesses to workers and their families is incalculable. In economic terms, the ILO has estimated that 4% of the world's annual GDP is lost as a consequence of occupational diseases and accidents. Employers face costly early retirements, loss of skilled staff, absenteeism, and high insurance premiums due to work-related accidents and diseases. Yet many of these tragedies are preventable through the implementation of sound prevention, reporting and inspection practices. ILO standards on occupational safety and health provide essential tools for governments, employers, and workers to establish such practices and to provide for maximum safety at work. In 2003 the ILO adopted an global strategy to improve occupational safety and health which included the introduction of a preventive safety and health culture, the promotion and development of relevant instruments, and technical assistance.
Social policy in the European Union: state of play 2018, 2018
European Union legislative action in the field of workers’ health and safety has been put on the back burner since the beginning of the 21st century. The main reason for this is not specific to occupational health but reflects the general weakening of social policies in the EU, a trend which became clearly noticeable when the focus of the Lisbon Strategy was adjusted in 2004-2005. It is also linked to the gradual implementation of the ‘Better Regulation’ agenda, under which legislative initiatives have been made dependent on their supposed economic impact. This weakening of Community occupational health policy can be traced by examining the various strategies established for 2002-2006, 2007-2012, and finally 2014-2020. In terms of occupational health legislation, there is a striking contrast between the large amount of legislation produced in the wake of the Single European Act (1986), and the far smaller number of texts produced as of 2002. The table annexed to this chapter gives an overview of the legislation adopted. This quantitative reduction, however, is only one aspect of the change. In terms of quality, the few directives worked on since 2002 have been the subject of tough negotiations, providing only a partial, and often insufficient, response to the needs they were supposed to meet. In May 2016, a glimmer of hope arose with the launch of the revision of the directive on carcinogens and mutagens at work. Will this change of direction lead to a revitalisation of Community policy, or will it remain a one-off? This chapter examines the development of European regulation in this area over the last twenty years. After considering the needs to which it is responding, and dwelling on the fact that Community legislation is a vital tool in this area if we are to see harmonised progress on living and working conditions in Europe (Section 1), we examine the impact of ‘Better Regulation’ (Section 2). The revision of the carcinogens and mutagens directive (Section 3) raises some particularly interesting questions. It seems to go against a general trend unfavourable to rules protecting workers’ lives and health. We shall attempt, therefore, to understand how, at a particular point in time, multiple complex factors have created an unexpected window of opportunity. Section 4 shows that the renewed activity in relation to cancer has not yet been able to revive Community policies on other priority occupational health issues. Major challenges remain: the still worrying level of musculoskeletal disorders and the strong emergence of psychosocial risks require an approach to occupational health going beyond material risks. These reflect aspects of work organisation needing to be regulated with a view to counteracting the power of employers. We conclude on the need to consider health and safety issues as part of a broader approach linking societal issues to workplace democracy. In our view, a purely technical approach to occupational health rules is bound to be inefficient and basically legitimises the double standards under which the health of people at work is far less well protected than their health in other contexts (regulations on the marketing of foodstuffs, medicines, cosmetics, rules on transport safety, air and water quality etc.).
International Labour Organization Regulating for Decent Work Conference, 2021
This paper puts the case for revisiting international trade negotiations and trade agreements, by gearing the articulation of occupational safety and health clauses and principles primarily towards a more sustainable and human-centered trade. As an instrumental part of a sustainable, resilient recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, trade policy and agreements need to have a more effective focus on the protection of workers health, safety, and welfare in order to raise standards and facilitate responsible trade. Work-related sensitive issues such as standards for the protection of workers’ rights and occupational safety and health yet remain an issue to be properly covered in trade-related public policy agendas. Historically, free trade agreements (FTAs) focused on removing trade barriers, generating growth, and incentivizing the production and selling of goods, covering social issues like occupational safety and health only indirectly, if at all. The way that many of these agreements fail to include robust and binding safeguards that can help to ensure the protection of, and respect for, health and safety rights and uphold existing occupational safety and health standards lay bare the ample room for improved governance. The narrative from this paper was shaped by the research base analysis that was carried out to determine the evidence on the need for more emphasis and clarity on how occupational safety and health provisions are articulated, regulated, and enforced in trade policy and agreements. This was also the result from the different stakeholder engagement sessions that took place to discuss how to stimulate a social compact between governments, the private sector, the social partners, and civil society to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth and decent work through more responsible trade and investment policy developments. Outcomes from these initiatives revealed that a possible route for global policy on world trade would entail the formal review of fundamental principles and rights at work framework on free trade agreements, the integration of a legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights and decent work, as well as the facilitation of more effective and enforceable decent work and occupational safety and health clauses in the context of trade and development.