What is World Day for Safety and Health at Work all about?

Every year on April 28th, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work is recognized to encourage the prevention of workplace accidents and diseases around the world. It's a public-awareness campaign aimed at drawing international attention to the scope of the problem and how encouraging and fostering a safety and health culture can help minimize the number of workplace deaths and injuries.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) established World Day in 2003 to emphasize the avoidance of workplace accidents and diseases, leveraging the ILO's traditional strengths of tripartism and social discourse. This year's theme for the day is the role of participation and social conversation in creating a sustainable safety and health culture.

According to the International Labour Organization, around 2.3 million men and women die each year as a result of work-related accidents and diseases, with close to 360,000 fatal accidents and an estimated 1.95 million fatal work-related diseases. Hazardous compounds are responsible for an estimated 651,000 deaths worldwide, the majority of which occur in underdeveloped countries. Due to insufficient reporting and notification mechanisms in many nations, these figures may be considerably underestimated.

Because occupational safety and health considerations had historically centered on dangerous jobs in sectors dominated by males, the dangers to men employees are well known. Women now account for more than 40% of the global workforce or 1.2 billion people out of a total workforce of 3 billion. However, because OSH standards and exposure limits to hazardous compounds are based on male populations and laboratory tests, occupational safety and health (OSH) hazards affecting women employees have often been underestimated.

Yes, you read that right! We are discussing gender inequality in a blog post on the subject of World day for safety at work. Women's OSH issues are strongly intertwined with their dual reproductive and economic duties. Women and men have traditionally had varied responsibilities in the house. With more women entering the workforce, they may be able to work paid jobs while also caring for their families and undertaking household tasks. When these two factors are taken into account, many women work longer hours than males. 12 Hazards and dangers specific to women are linked to the working conditions of the economic sectors in which they operate.

Women make up 35.4 percent of the workforce in agriculture globally, with the agricultural industry accounting for more than 60% of all female employment in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.   Women in agriculture have a high rate of accidents and infections, whether they are subsistence farmers, self-employed, working as unpaid family members, or wage earners. Pesticide exposure, as well as mixing or applying dangerous additional agrochemicals, is one of the most serious workplace hazards, with poisoning resulting in illness or death. Other risks include handling animals and coming into contact with harmful plants and biological agents, which can cause allergies, respiratory problems, infections, and parasitic diseases. Noise-induced hearing loss, musculoskeletal disorders such as repetitive stress injuries and back pain, and psychiatric issues are all frequently experienced by them.

If health promotion policies in the field of OSH are to be beneficial for both men and women, more reliable data about the relationship between occupational health and the sex of workers is required. Out-of-date employment structures, working practices, and attitudes hinder women employees in particular. Within a national policy on OSH, a wide approach for improving women workers' safety and health must be developed, particularly in places where many women are recruited. To achieve a coordinated national effort, a cohesive framework should be devised. World Day for safety and health at work should not be the subject wherein gender inequality has any place.