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ILO 349GB - Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health 2024-30 and plan of action for its implementation - EU Statement

06.11.2023
Geneva
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in Geneva

ILO Governing Body, 349th session

30 October – 9 November 2023

Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health 2024-30 and plan of action for its implementation

GB.349/INS/8

EU statement

 

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Republic of Albania*, North Macedonia*, Moldova, Montenegro*, Serbia* and Türkiye, the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

We align with the Government Group statement.

  1. We thank the Office for the document regarding the Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health 2024-30 and plan of action for its implementation.
  2. The European Union and its Member States were strong supporters of the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. As we have stated before, we stand ready and committed to support all the necessary steps to follow up on the historical achievement we reached in June 2022.
  3. We fully endorse the goal of the new strategy. To progressively realise the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment worldwide and to contribute to a global decrease in the number of occupational fatalities, injuries and disease, along with a reduction in the associated socio-economic costs.
  4. We welcome that the strategy is adapted to recent times and necessities, and that it takes into consideration the opportunities and challenges of a changing world of work and global challenges such as the use of new technologies applied to all sectors as the digitalisation advances, threats posed from biological hazards and new pandemics, as well as threats arising from climate change and those arising in the future. We also welcome that the importance of workers’ mental health to address the challenges of the world of work is emphasized in the strategy.
  5. Workers in the informal economy, who comprise more than half of the global labour force, face heightened threats. ILO’s interventions should be guided by its normative framework, including Conventions Nos. 155 and 187.
  6. The EU and its Member States support the four guiding principles as well as the three strategic pillars of the strategy. We especially welcome and support the important role of social dialogue, inclusiveness and the approach which aims to achieve gender equality at work through a transformative agenda, in line with the ILO Centenary Declaration. We also welcome that the Office has adapted pillar 3 to encompass the realities of SMEs in line with our comments in March.
  7. Examining the Office’s paper, we support the five action areas of the plan of action. It will be important to ensure increased rates of ratification and effective implementation of the core conventions 155 and 187 globally. We therefore welcome the proposed promotional activities in this regard.
  8. We support ILO’s efforts to be a global knowledge centre in the field of occupational safety and health and that the Office will investigate new and innovative ways of sharing and facilitating exchange of information.
  9. Further to this, we want to put emphasis on the gender responsiveness of all outputs. This is crucial. As well as actions addressing issues such as forced labour and actions targeting workers in the informal economy. We welcome and acknowledge the Office’s efforts in taking into account our comments during the consultations when presenting the appendix listing the outputs.
  10. We read with contentment that a specific results framework to monitor and report on both the strategy and the plan of action has been developed, including indicators and targets as this will be important to inform both programming work and decisions during the strategy’s time period.
  11. To conclude, occupational safety and health is an overarching objective to achieve decent work and the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDGs 3 and 8. We believe that this strategy will contribute to these goals.

Chair, with these comments, we support the draft decision point in paragraph 53.

Thank you.

[*Albania, The Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.]