What led the ILO to focus on this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work theme of investing in resilient OSH systems?
The COVID-19 crisis has had profound impacts on the World of Work
with many implications for occupational safety and health.
Not only have workers face the threat of acquiring the virus at work, but also the measures and policies put into place
to curb the spread of the virus have resulted in other risks to health and to safety.
This year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work theme and report aim to highlight
the lessons that have been learned in managing the pandemic.
We emphasize the importance of integrating occupational safety and health into the overall crisis response
and encouraging stakeholders to invest in strengthening national occupational safety and health systems.
What are the elements of an OSH system that you focus on in the report?
The campaign draws from ILO Convention 187 which describes the elements of a national occupational safety and health system.
The report groups these elements into thematic areas covering the need
to have a national occupational safety and health policy and regulatory framework,
OSH institutional frameworks, occupational health services, information advisory and training services data collection
and research on occupational safety and health and the need to strengthen OSH management systems at the enterprise level.
Each chapter of the report dives into specific examples from countries and constituents,
examining areas for action and lessons learned during this pandemic.
What are some of the major work-related health risks and responses that have emerged?
Of course numerous people face the risk of acquiring the virus at work,
particularly healthcare workers and many others.
Some workplaces have witnessed outbreaks, especially where work is done in close contact between people.
The measures put into place to mitigate the spread of the virus such as lockdown measures,
increased views of protective equipment and changing work arrangements
have also resulted in new occupational safety and health risks affecting our physical and our mental and psychosocial well-being.
Teleworking is now the new normal, what are the OSH risks and how can we prevent them?
The widespread reliance on teleworking has resulted in many potential risks to our safety and to our health.
These include ergonomic and psychosocial risks.
Workers are faced with multiple demands from work from home,
often affecting their work-life balance and their ability to disconnect from work.
There has been an extensive collaboration we've seen between governments, employer and worker organizations
to produce teleworking guidelines virtual ergonomic checks and self-risk assessments.
These provide guidance on how to set up a healthy workstation at your home.
This guidance could also include for example referrals to local support services in case of mental health concerns or in case of episodes of domestic violence.
The report highlights the importance of communication between our managers and workers during remote work
to keep workers engaged and to help them set boundaries between their work life and their home life.
Psychosocial risks have increased during the pandemic. How can we manage this?
During the pandemic many workers face violence and harassment
while they were trying to perform their work.
There were accounts of workers being attacked assaulted even some were killed after asking customers to simply wear face masks or to follow other prevention measures.
Healthcare workers have also been harassed and faced a lot of violence inside and outside of the workplace,
including accounts of nurses being attacked on the street as they were heading home.
Measures have been put into place around the world including punitive policies targeted trainings and other actions,
for example securing transportation for workers at risk.