TUAC - TRADE UNION ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE OECD

28/04/2014

On 28 April 2014, trade unions, workers and their communities around the globe mobilised to commemorate workers who have lost their lives or health at work, and to fight for better occupational safety and health.

Each day, workplace accidents kill more than 1,000 workers. And diseases related to working conditions add more than 5,330 to this daily death toll. In other words more than 270 workers are killed every single hour. In addition, almost a million workers suffer injuries every day because of accidents at the workplace.

“On top of already unsafe and precarious working conditions faced by workers around the world, these times of economic crisis – and unscrupulous employers – mean less protection and more insecurity,” said John Evans, General Secretary of TUAC.

“The trade union call for rights, regulation and enforcement – all critical elements for securing workers’ right to health, must be reflected in the global policy agenda”, said Evans. “The success of G20 work on safe workplaces depends on governments mustering the political will to tackle the problems in global supply chains and to implement occupational safety and health legislation”.

TUAC firmly believes that a central line of defence against workplace accidents lies in adequately staffed and resourced labour inspection public services. It is concerned that some OECD policy recommendations will serve to weaken rather than strengthen inspection. Its list of “Best Practices” on Regulatory Enforcement and Inspections – currently under consideration – reveals a clear preference for “market-based mechanisms rather than direct inspections and enforcement actions” (#35), discourages inspection staff “that systematically aim to find the highest possible number of violations” (#72) and recommends “advance notification of visits” (#87).

This is at odds not only with the G20 agenda but also with OECD work on Responsible Business Conduct – the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the upcoming informal Ministerial (June 2014), at which Ministers are likely to call for a Global Partnership on Responsible Business Conduct.

28 April 2014 is set to see the highest number of workplace safety and health actions in history, with trade union events expected in over 100 countries. The ITUC/Hazards global events map is compiling 28 April updates from all over the world. So far, unions in over 70 countries have confirmed activities ranging from commemorations, to protests and training days. New reports of national action are pouring in by the hour.

TUAC organised its own event at 11 am, in its offices in Paris, France. Activities include a one-minute silence and a staff debate on the linkages between TUAC work and occupational safety and health.