GENEVA (ILO News) – On Friday 28 April, government, worker and employer representatives will observe World Day for Safety and Health with over 100 events worldwide – from the Central Asia to the Caribbean, from Armenia to Addis Ababa. The special theme of this year’s observance calls attention to HIV/AIDS as an occupational safety and health issue.

"The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS hits hardest those of working age and all who depend on them", said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia, in a statement issued for the World Day. "It threatens their rights at work. It undermines business and the economy and the very fabric of society. It is in the interest of all to ensure safe and healthy workplaces that protect workers from HIV and support those affected".

The ILO estimates that at any given moment, HIV prevents some 2 million persons from going to work, a figure that is expected to double by 2015.

An ILO report issued for this day highlights the links between decent work, occupational safety and health and HIV/AIDS. Various elements of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda including respect for fundamental principles and rights at work, its body of international labour standards, occupational safety and health mechanisms, labour inspection, codes of practice on occupational safety and health and on HIV/AIDS and the workplace, and social dialogue provide the basis for a strong workplace response to both prevention and access to treatment.

The observance of World Day for Safety and Health at Work will also promote awareness of general occupational safety and health issues, including prevention, in a bid to mobilize action to reduce workplace fatalities. The ILO estimates that total work related fatalities number about 2.2 million per year of which some 400,000 are attributable to the effects of hazardous substances in the workplace. In addition, some 160 million suffer from work related diseases each year. This grim toll requires urgent efforts to develop a safety culture at all levels.

A number of products will be available from the ILO web page to support those efforts. (1)

Employers’ and workers’ organizations have a huge stake in reducing the impact of the HIV pandemic, as it threatens livelihoods and productivity and the very viability of enterprises as well as slowing national economic growth. In over 40 countries with HIV epidemics an average 0.2 per cent of the annual rate of growth of GDP was lost between 1992 and 2002, equivalent to an annual average of $25 billion. The ILO has produced a new CD-ROM for employers to help them manage HIV/AIDS issues in the workplace. (2)

The world’s trade unions have long commemorated the victims of occupational accidents and disease on this day.

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(1) The link to World Day for Safety and Health at Work home page and the two reports can be found online at www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/worldday/index.htm.
For a copy of the Director-General’s message, please see: www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/dgo/speeches/somavia/2006/osh.pdf ">www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/dgo/speeches/somavia/2006/osh.pdf.

(2) Employers’ Organizations & HIV/AIDS: Information tools and good practice for workplace action against HIV/AIDS, available in English, French and Spanish. This CD-ROM aims to help employers’ organizations and their members cope with the impact of HIV/AIDS and strengthen the business response to the epidemic, particularly the one of smaller and less well-resourced companies. Organizations of employers play a critical role in helping the private sector develop policies and programmes on HIV/AIDS.

For more information, please contact the ILO Department of Communication and Public information at tel: +4122/799 7912 or email: communication@ilo.org, or contact ILO Office in Moscow (+7 095) 933 0897 (Ms Olga Bogdanova, Communications Officer)