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Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page iFUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OFOCCUPATIONAL HEALTH ANDSAFETY

Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page ii

Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page iiiFUNDAMENTALPRINCIPLES OFOCCUPATIONALHEALTH AND SAFETYSecond editionBenjamin O. ALLIINTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE GENEVA

Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page ivCopyright International Labour Organization 2008First published 2008Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of theUniversal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproducedwithout authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproductionor translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions),International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: [email protected] International Labour Office welcomes such applications.Libraries, institutions and other users registered with a reproduction rights organization maymake copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.orgto find the reproduction rights organization in your country.Alli, B. O.Fundamental principles of occupational health and safety / Benjamin O. Alli;International Labour Office – Geneva: ILO, 20081vInternational Labour Officeoccupational health / occupational safety / hazard / role of ILO / health policy /labour legislation / HIV/AIDS / occupational health service / safety training /developed countries / developing countries13.04.2ISBN 978-92-2-120454-1ILO Cataloguing in Publication DataThe designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nationspractice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of anycountry, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.The responsibility for opinions expressed in signed articles, studies and other contributionsrests solely with their authors, and publication does not constitute an endorsement by theInternational Labour Office of the opinions expressed in them.Reference to names of firms and commercial products and processes does not imply theirendorsement by the International Labour Office, and any failure to mention a particular firm,commercial product or process is not a sign of disapproval.ILO publications can be obtained through major booksellers or ILO local offices in manycountries, or direct from ILO Publications, International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva22, Switzerland. Catalogues or lists of new publications are available free of charge from theabove address, or by email: [email protected] our website: www.ilo.org/publnsTypeset by Magheross Graphics, France & Ireland www.magheross.comPrinted in (country)

Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page vEditor’s noteSince the book was written from an occupational health perspective, its titlerefers to “occupational health and safety”, whereas all relevant ILOinstruments and programmes use the term “occupational safety and health”.Because this book is an updated edition of an existing text the title has notbeen changed, but for consistency with current usage the term “occupationalsafety and health” is used throughout its contents, on the understanding thatthe terms are equivalent.

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Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page viiPREFACEOccupational safety and health (OSH) is generally defined as the science ofthe anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control of hazards arising in orfrom the workplace that could impair the health and well-being of workers,taking into account the possible impact on the surrounding communities andthe general environment. This domain is necessarily vast, encompassing a largenumber of disciplines and numerous workplace and environmental hazards. Awide range of structures, skills, knowledge and analytical capacities are neededto coordinate and implement all of the “building blocks” that make up nationalOSH systems so that protection is extended to both workers and theenvironment.The scope of occupational safety and health has evolved gradually andcontinuously in response to social, political, technological and economicchanges. In recent years, globalization of the world’s economies and itsrepercussions have been perceived as the greatest force for change in the worldof work, and consequently in the scope of occupational safety and health, inboth positive and negative ways. Liberalization of world trade, rapidtechnological progress, significant developments in transport andcommunication, shifting patterns of employment, changes in workorganization practices, the different employment patterns of men and women,and the size, structure and life cycles of enterprises and of new technologiescan all generate new types and patterns of hazards, exposures and risks.Demographic changes and population movements, and the consequentpressures on the global environment, can also affect safety and health in theworld of work.It is no coincidence that the protection of workers against sickness,disease and injury related to the working environment, as embodied in thePreamble to the Constitution of the ILO, has been a central issue for thevii

Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page viiiFundamental principles of occupational health and safetyOrganization since its creation in 1919, and continues to be so today.Occupational safety and health is a key element in achieving sustained decentworking conditions and strong preventive safety cultures. Close to 80 per centof all ILO standards and instruments are either wholly or partly concerned withissues related to occupational safety and health. A large number of areas of ILOactivity include an OSH or OSH-related component, among them employment, child labour, the informal economy, gender mainstreaming, labourstatistics, labour inspection and maritime safety, HIV/AIDS and the world ofwork, and international migration. This breadth of penetration gives a clearindication of the continued importance of occupational safety and health as acore element of ILO activity and of the Decent Work Agenda in particular.In November 2000 the Governing Body of the ILO decided to apply onan experimental basis an integrated approach to ILO standards-relatedactivities in order to increase their coherence, relevance, impact and currency.OSH was selected as the first area to benefit from this approach, and at its 91stSession (2003) the International Labour Conference (ILC) held a generaldiscussion to this end (ILO, 2003a). The ILC adopted conclusions definingthe main elements of a global strategy to bring about measurableimprovements in safety and health in the world of work and recommendingthe development of a new instrument aimed at establishing a promotionalframework for occupational safety and health.As a result, the ILC adopted, at its 94th Session in June 2006,a Convention (No. 187) concerning the promotional framework foroccupational safety and health and its accompanying Recommendation(No. 197). The main purposes of the Convention are to ensure that a higherpriority is given to occupational safety and health in national agendas and tofoster political commitments in a tripartite context for the improvement ofoccupational safety and health. Its content is promotional rather thanprescriptive, and it is based on two fundamental concepts: the developmentand maintenance of a preventive safety and health culture, and the applicationat the national level of a systems management approach to occupational safetyand health.This new edition of Fundamental principles of occupational health andsafety introduces these new ILO instruments promoting occupational safetyand health, as well as new approaches, tools and areas of action such as nationalOSH programmes, national OSH profiles, OSH management systems,HIV/AIDS and the world of work, and technical guidelines for the soundmanagement of chemicals. The book aims to serve as a guide or reference workfor the development of OSH policies and programmes. It covers thefundamental principles of occupational safety and health, based on theILO’s philosophy of prevention and protection, which stems from theviii

Xpress text - Prelims (pp.i-xiv):Intro-CH1 (p.1-40)27/06/200815:14Page ixPrefaceBox 1The ILO’s mandate on occupational safety and healthThe ILO’s mandate for work in the field of occupational safety and health dates from itsvery foundation:And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice hardship and privation to largenumbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the worldare imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is urgently required; as, for example,by the regulation of the hours of work including the establishment of a maximum working dayand week . the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out ofhis employment (Preamble to the Constitution of the International Labour Organization)This was renewed in 1944, when the relevance of the ILO was reasserted at itsPhiladelphia Conference:The Conference recognizes the solemn obligation of the International Labour Organizationto further among the nations of the world programmes which will achieve: . (g) adequateprotection for the life and health of workers in all occupations; (Declaration of Philadelphia, 1944, para. III)Organization’s mandate in this field (see box 1). The Conventions,Recommendations and codes of practice that make up the set of “core” ILOinstruments on OSH embody all the principles, provisions and technicalguidance necessary to establish, implement and manage OSH systems. Theyare presented here in a form that will be useful for those involved in policymaking (governments, and employers’ and workers’ organizations), thosewithin enterprises who are concerned with the practical implementation ofmeasures to promote and protect the safety and health of workers (managers,supervisors, workers’ representatives), and legislators and labour inspectors.A single work cannot hope to cover all the subject areas in the vast fieldof occupational safety and health. This book therefore focuses on the keytopics essential to the promotion of OSH activities. Part I gives an overviewof the key concepts which permeate all OSH activities; Part II presents policyperspectives; and Part III deals with the operational aspects of implementingoccupational safety and health.ix

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