A Basic Principle And Right At Work

“Safety is not an intellectual exercise to keep us in work. It is a matter of life and death. It is the sum of our contributions to safety management that determines whether the people we work with live or die.”- Sir Brian Appleton. Our fundamental right at work is one of safety and a healthy environment. Unfortunately, many places of work fail to meet minimum standards and as a result numerous employees work in hazardous and unhealthy working conditions which negatively impact their health. The statistics are alarming. Stress, excessively-long working hours and disease, contribute to the deaths of nearly 2.8 million workers every year, while an additional 374 million people get injured or fall ill because of their jobs, according to the UN labour agency, the International Labour Organization. (ILO). The National Safety Council states that a worker is hurt on the job every 7 seconds. That means 510 people are injured every hour, 12,600 a day, 88,500 a week, and 4,600,000 employees are hurt yearly. Data emerging from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security indicates that Jamaica recorded 192 workplace related accident reports in 2022 compared to 221 such reports in 2021. The culture of fear is real; numerous employees are fearful of speaking about the unhealthy and dangerous working conditions due to fear of losing their jobs. Another issue of concern regarding safety in the workplace is the extended working hours for some employees. Research supports that one's cognitive function diminishes after working for a prolonged period without any breaks. The school space is yet another source of concern. Many school plants are structurally unsafe. It has become a common occurrence to see poorly ventilated classrooms with a teacher pupil ratio of 1 teacher to 40 students. Our school plants need to be inspected more often to ensure compliance with standards and procedures. This information should be available to access online if we are truly about transparency and accountability.

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the United Nations agency for the world of work. It sets international labour standards, promotes rights at work and encourages decent employment opportunities, the enhancement of social protection and the strengthening of dialogue on work-related issues. With so many high-rise buildings being constructed across the corporate area, we all should be concerned about safety standards. On a daily basis we turn up for work on the assumption that the plant is structurally sound and that all the checks have been done. Regrettably, too many of us live in an unreal fantasy world. We have seen horrible stories in our neighbours in North America where workmen have done shabby work resulting in the loss of lives. Locally, we have heard of developers flouting the law and constructing buildings for which approvals have not been granted. Sadly, when procedures and standards are bypassed the average person usually pays the price with his or her life. It must be noted that the final draft of the new Occupational Safety and Health Act is currently before the Parliamentary Council. The legislation aims to protect workers and other persons from harm to their safety, health and welfare through the elimination or minimization of hazards, serious injury, or risks arising out of or in connection with activities at workplaces. In 2003, the International Labour Organization (ILO) began to observe World Safety Day in order to stress the prevention of accidents and diseases at work, capitalizing on the ILO's traditional strengths of tripartism and social dialogue. This celebration is an integral part of the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health of the ILO, as documented in the Conclusions of the International Labour Conference in June 2003. One of the main pillars of the Global Strategy is advocacy, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a significant tool to raise awareness of how to make work safe and healthy and of the need to raise the political profile of occupational safety and health. Prevention of Occupational Accidents and Diseases The annual World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April promotes the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally. It is an awareness-raising campaign intended to focus international attention on the magnitude of the problem and on how promoting and creating a safety and health culture can help reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries. Each of us is responsible for stopping deaths and injuries on the job. As governments we are responsible for providing the infrastructure laws and services necessary to ensure that workers remain employable and that enterprises flourish; this includes the development of a national policy and programme and a system of inspection to enforce compliance with occupational safety and health legislation and policy. As employers we are responsible for ensuring that the working environment is safe and healthy. As workers we are responsible to work safely and to protect ourselves and not to endanger others, to know our rights and to participate in the implementation of preventive measures. Emerging Risks at Work New and emerging occupational risks may be caused by technical innovation or by social or organizational change, such as: new technologies and production processes, e.g. nanotechnology, biotechnology, new working conditions, e.g. higher workloads, work intensification from downsizing, poor conditions associated with migration for work, jobs in the informal economy, Emerging forms of employment, e.g. self-employment outsourcing, temporary contracts They may be more widely recognized through better scientific understanding, e.g. the effects of ergonomic risks on musculoskeletal disorders. They may be influenced by changes in perceptions about the importance of certain risk factors, e.g. the effects of psychosocial factors on work-related stress. Mold in the workplace can be dangerous. Mold exposure is typically non-life threatening. However, if the mold has become too big to handle, then there are health concerns that come with the mold, such as respiratory infections from inhaling mold spores. Some types of mold, such as toxic black mold Stachybotrys chartarum, can even be deadly if not treated immediately. Besides respiratory infections, mold exposure can cause allergic reactions, hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and other health problems particularly to the immunocompromised. Unfortunately, inflammations like hypersensitivity pneumonitis may be misdiagnosed as pneumonia, but antibiotics do not cure the illness. Adequate safety and health measures at the workplace can play a significant role in containing the spread of the disease, while protecting workers and society at large. Governments, employers and workers all have a role to play in tackling COVID-19 crisis, and their collaboration is key. We must be mindful that an unsafe work environment will impact our mental state of wellness. We must do everything in our powers to encourage our employers to put those measures in place to safeguard the safety of all. Safety does not occur by accident. We need to be vigilant at the workplace. Some employers cut corners at the expense of safety. Our trade unions need to be more engaging and forceful regarding safety concerns at the workplace. No matter the occupation, safety at work is of vital importance. Safety should be first at all times and in all circumstances at the workplace. In the words of Ralph Nader, there's no better policy in society than pursuing the health and safety of its people. Wayne Campbell is an educator and social commentator with an interest in development policies as they affect culture and or gender issues. waykam@yahoo.com @WayneCamo ©