Information related to

XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work - World Summit on Safety and Health, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 29 June – 2 July 2008

Article
- Microinsurance and OSH: helping to cope with workplace risks
  Work-related accidents and diseases take a grim toll every year. Although prevention can help improve occupational safety and health (OSH), microinsurance can also play a complementary role in coping with workplace risks and provide direct benefits to employers and workers. ILO Online reports.
- “We will continue to move forward”: managing risk at work in Kazakhstan
  The 18th World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Seoul, Republic of Korea, will unveil best practices and examples in promoting effective occupational safety and health (OSH) systems as one of the key factors in sustainable economic growth and development. ILO Online reports from Kazakhstan – a country that pioneered new approaches to occupational safety and health and became a model for other countries of Central Asia.
- Extending occupational safety and health to the informal economy - Article for the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work
  Over 1 billion people, more than 60 percent of Asia’s workforce, are still working in the informal economy, with little or no social protection. Experience shows that workers and small businesses in the informal economy are usually motivated to improve safety and health conditions out of their own initiative, but they still need practical support. ILO Online spoke with Tsuyoshi Kawakami, ILO specialist on occupational safety and health in Bangkok.
- World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2008 - “Superman has fallen”: Managing risk in the work environment
  Each year, an estimated 2.2 million people die from work-related accidents and diseases around the world, according to the ILO which says that work related deaths appear to be on the rise. But risks can be eliminated or minimized at source, says a new ILO report published for World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April. ILO Online reports from the Republic of Korea where the country’s occupational safety and health agency KOSHA launched a number of initiatives to prevent accidents at work.
Document
- Report: My life, my work, my safe work: Managing risk in the work environment - [pdf 953 KB]
News item
- World Congress calls for new global partnership to improve work safety
  The XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work concluded with calls for a new global partnership to strengthen safety and health in the workplace, and to reinforce efforts to reduce fatalities and illness.
- ILO Convention No. 187 on occupational safety and health to come into force following ratification by the Republic of Korea
  The Republic of Korea has recently ratified a new ILO Convention, the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health, Convention No. 187. This ratification will bring this important international labour standard designed to promote a “preventive safety and health culture” into force in the next 12 months.
Normative instrument
- C187 Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006
  Convention concerning the promotional framework for occupational safety and health (Note: Date of coming into force: )
Presentation
- Slideshow: My life, my work, my safe work - Managing Risk in the Work Environment
  Every year more than 2 million people die from occupational accidents or work-related diseases. "Injury and disease are not 'all in a day's work'", says ILO Director-General Juan Somavia. "Fatalities, accidents and illness at work can be prevented. We must promote a new 'safety culture' in the workplace - wherever work is done - backed by appropriate national policies and programmes to make workplaces safer and healthier for us all." The promotion of occupational safety and health is one of the means to make Decent Work a global reality.
Press release
- World Summit on Safety and Health - ILO welcomes new Declaration on promotion of safer workplaces
  29 June 2008 - The International Labour Organization welcomed the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work adopted in Seoul by some 50 high-level decision makers from around the world as a major new blueprint for constructing a global culture of safety and health at work. (ILO/08/33[ILO_REF])
- XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work - World Summit on Safety and Health, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 29 June – 2 July 2008
  02 June 2008 - Some 4,000 industry leaders, policy-makers and experts from over 100 countries are to gather in Seoul, Republic of Korea, from 29 June to 2 July for the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work. (ILO/08/19[ILO_REF])
Video
- Message from Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Office on the Occasion of the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work -
- Rebuilding Baphuon Temple in Angkor, Cambodia -
  Tourists will soon be able to visit one of Angkor’s greatest treasures: the 11th century Baphuon temple. Now the temple is the centre of a huge archaeological reconstruction effort. Safety training means today’s Khmer construction workers are reclaiming this piece of their heritage without the dangers their ancestors faced.
- NEW FORMULAS FOR CHEMICAL SAFETY -
  This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Bhopal chemicals plant disaster, following which some 20,000 people died. The International Labour Organization estimates that of the two million work-related fatalities each year, nearly a quarter (439,999) are caused by chemicals. Today, World Day for Safety and Health at Work (April 28), ILO TV reports on how the Bhopal disaster has led to measures to promote safety in the workplace.
- Bulgaria: joining the European Union -
  As Bulgaria joins the European Union, it must enforce tougher safety and health standards. To avoid having to pay out big compensation benefits, Bulgarian employers are looking more towards preventing accidents before they happen by setting up a safety and health monitoring service. ILO TV explains: