Occupational Safety and Health

Safety and health in the workplace — otherwise known as occupational safety and health (OSH) — is improvement of working conditions and environments to ensure workers’ safety and health are maintained while working and to provide compensation if a work-related injury occurs.

OSH is regulated at international, regional and national levels. Safety and health in the workplace do not just apply to typically dangerous jobs, such as working at height or with chemicals, but to all places of employment, including offices. OSH laws and regulations also include the requirement of employers to adapt work and the workplace to the capabilities of workers in light of their physical and mental health.

OSH is considered an integral part of the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (or to put it simply “the right to health”), which is affirmed in the UDHR, the ICESCR and many other international human rights instruments. Moreover, healthy and safe occupational conditions are considered one of the key underlying determinants of health: i.e. a precondition for the effective enjoyment of the right to health.

The ILO estimates that 2.78 million workers die each year from occupational accidents and work-related diseases, and an additional 374 million workers suffer from non-fatal occupational accidents. This corresponds to 7,500 deaths from unsafe and unhealthy working conditions every single day, 6,500 of which can be attributed to work-related diseases and 1,000 to occupational accidents. This is an estimation as many workplace deaths or injuries are not reported to relevant authorities. Additionally, long-term work-related illness or death (such as respiratory disease or cancers suspected to be caused by working with chemicals) may also go unreported as the illness or death may occur many years after employment ends.

Many employees also experience mental health problems such as anxiety or stress that can be exacerbated or caused by work and work environments, and can also lead to long-term sickness or days off work due to mental ill-health. World Health Organization (WHO) studies suggest that there is a cost of over US$1trillion to the global economy each year from lost productivity due to mental health problems.

Key trends include:

• The burden of occupational mortality and morbidity is not equally distributed across the world, among industries, and among the workforce. About two-thirds (65%) of global work-related mortality is estimated to occur in Asia, followed by Africa (11.8%), Europe (11.7%), America (10.9%) and Oceania (0.6%). The rates of fatal occupational accidents per 100,000 workers also show stark regional differences, with those in Africa and Asia between 4 and 5 times higher than those in Europe.
• Manufacturing, construction, transportation and storage are the industries that experience the highest level of work-related accidents. In these highly hazardous sectors, as well as elsewhere, work-related injuries are not equally distributed among the workforce. The workers most exposed to work-related injuries are those in precarious employment (temporary, casual or part-time workers), workers in informal employment, those working in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and those subject to discrimination and marginalization (such as migrant workers, young workers, and racial and ethnic minorities).
• The world was profoundly affected by the global pandemic. Due to COVID-19 risks, business had to adapt to restrictions set by Governments around the world to keep their workforces safe, including allowing workers to ‘work from home’ where possible, creating shift patterns to allow for social distancing and introducing heightened cleaning and sanitation protocols to keep employees safe. As the world recovers from COVID-19, these practices continue, with many industries, such as professional services, changing their working styles to more flexible, hybrid working approaches. These have created new challenges for OSH, including ensuring workers have appropriate equipment to use at home to complete their jobs. There has also been a rise in mental health concerns as workers feel more isolated and are unable to clearly separate work and home life.
• Mental health accommodation and protection in the workplace have become increasingly common in OSH planning and management. Mental health issues, such as work-related stress or depression, not only affect the individual but also result in lost business productivity. While in some countries mental health issues are still seen as taboo or controversial, many businesses are proactively supporting mental health and well-being approaches for employees.
• The World Bank estimates that around 1 billion people — 15% of the global population — experience some form of disability. As such, OSH management is developing to increasingly accommodate physical disabilities, such as blindness or physical restrictions, as well as mental disabilities, such as autism, dyslexia or learning disabilities. The ILO highlights that businesses that are inclusive of disabilities in the workplace are more likely to have positive workforce morale, high levels of productivity and a more diverse workforce.

While OSH hazards are intrinsic to all workplaces, those located in countries with limited resources, weak legal frameworks, inadequate enforcement and support functions face greater challenges. This is often exacerbated by the absence of a preventive safety and health culture, both at national and workplace levels, and the lack of protection schemes against work-related injury. Businesses can be impacted by OSH issues in their operations and supply chains in multiple ways:

• Physical risk: Safety and health accidents can include major incidents like fires, explosions or building collapses that not only hurt employees but also destroy and damage property, costing companies considerably to rebuild.
• Reputational and brand risk: Negative campaigns by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, consumers and other stakeholders can result in reduced sales and/or brand erosion.
• Financial risk: Divestment and/or avoidance by investors and finance providers (many of which are increasingly applying environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria to their decision-making) can result in reduced or more expensive access to capital and reduced shareholder value.
• Legal risk: Legal claims can be brought against the company, and it may face criminal charges when workers are hurt or killed.
• Operational risk: OSH incidents and associated media coverage and/or boycotts may lead to higher costs and/or disruption of business continuity. Companies may respond by terminating supplier contracts and/or directing sourcing activities to lower-risk countries.

Poor occupational safety and health has the potential to impact a range of human rights[1], including but not limited to:

• Right to life and physical security (UDHR, Article 3): This article of the Universal Declaration affirms the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Poor OSH practices can affect workers’ physical security and, in the worst cases, affect the fundamental right to life.
• Right to health (UDHR, Article 25, ICESCR, Article 12): These provisions guarantee the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which is explicitly connected to the improvement of “industrial hygiene” and the prevention and treatment of occupational diseases. The right to health can be compromised by an unhealthy or dangerous working environment. Both one-off accidents or long-term working conditions can affect a person’s health and well-being, including mental health.
• Right to work (UDHR, Article 23; ICESCR, Article 7): The entitlement of everyone to safe and healthy working conditions is also considered an integral part of the right to work, which encompasses also the right to enjoy just and favourable conditions of work. This requires putting in place preventive measures in respect of occupational accidents and diseases.