The Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Guy Ryder has said that about 2.3 million workers worldwide die annually as a result of occupational illnesses and accidents at work.
According to him, 860,000 occupational accidents occur every day with direct or indirect costs of occupational illnesses and accidents at work, estimated at $2.8 trillion worldwide.
Guy Ryder, who spoke at the Triennial World Congress on Safety and Health at Work (2014) co organised by ILO and the International Social Security Association (ISSA) in Frankfurt, Germany remarked: “These figures are unacceptable and yet these daily tragedies often fail to show up on the global radar. Clearly, there is still much to be done. Serious occupational accidents are, firstly, human tragedies but economies and society also pay a high price.”
The Director-General called for what he described as “culture of intolerance towards risks at work,” saying that safety and health are integral part of all ILO’s work, including a spotlight on invisible and vulnerable categories of workers in the informal economy, rural economy and migrant workers.
Speaking to occupational safety experts, politicians and scientists from 141 countries at the world’s largest occupational safety event, Ryder said the ILO would focus on producing a greater impact on the global culture related to safety and health at work and on the ground in workplaces.
“Ebola and the tragedies it is causing are in the daily headlines, which is right. But work-related deaths are not. So, the task ahead is to establish a permanent culture of consciousness,” Ryder said.
He said the failure to ensure a safe and healthy workplace constitute unacceptable form of work. “This puts safety and health alongside forced labour, child labour, freedom of association and discrimination, which were recognised in the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
“The challenge we face is a daunting one. Work claims more victims around the globe than war. An estimated 2.3 million workers die every year from occupational accidents and diseases.”
He pointed out that investing in occupational safety and health is good business adding that “every dollar that is invested pays in.”
Ryder also underlined the critical need for good data stressing: “We live in the Information Age where policy-makers have access to data on most issues. But in relation to occupational safety and health we lack data to design and implement evidence-based policies and programmes. That’s a failure – also of political will.” [myad]
