The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and International Labour Standards
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is an agency of the United Nations. It has a unique tripartite structure involving government, employer, and worker representatives. It is a forum in which the governments and socio-economic stakeholders from the member states can debate and elaborate labour standards and policies.
International labour standards are legal instruments drawn up by the ILO’s constituents (governments, employers and workers) and setting out basic principles and rights at work. They are either Conventions (or Protocols), which are legally binding international treaties that may be ratified by member states, or Recommendations, which serve as non-binding guidelines. In many cases, a Convention lays down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying countries, while a related Recommendation supplements the Convention by providing more detailed guidelines on how it could be applied. Recommendations can also be autonomous, i.e. not linked to a Convention.
Conventions and Recommendations are drawn up by representatives of governments, employers and workers and are adopted at the annual International Labour Conference. Once a standard is adopted, member states are required under article 19(6) of the ILO Constitution, to submit it to their competent authority (normally Parliament) within a period of twelve months for consideration. In the case of Conventions, this means consideration for ratification. If it is ratified, a Convention generally comes into force for that country one year after the date of ratification. Ratifying countries undertake to apply the Convention in national law and practice and to report on its application at regular intervals. Technical assistance is provided by the ILO, if necessary. In addition, representation and complaint procedures can be initiated against countries for violations of a Convention that they have ratified (see applying and promoting ILS ).
Employers Responsibilities
Convention 155 Article 16
- Employers shall be required to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the workplaces, machinery, equipment and processes under their control are safe and without risk to health.
- Employers shall be required to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the chemical, physical and biological substances and agents under their control are without risk to health when the appropriate measures of protection are taken.
- Employers shall be required to provide, where necessary, adequate protective clothing and protective equipment to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, risk of accidents or of adverse effects on health.
Recommendation 164 (recommendation 10)
10. The obligations placed upon employers with a view to achieving the objective set forth in Article 16 of the Convention might include, as appropriate for different branches of economic activity and different types of work, the following:
(a) to provide and maintain workplaces, machinery and equipment, and use work methods, which are as safe and without risk to health as is reasonably practicable;
(b) to give necessary instructions and training, taking account of the functions and capacities of different categories of workers;
(c) to provide adequate supervision of work, of work practices and of application and use of occupational safety and health measures;
(d) to institute organisational arrangements regarding occupational safety and health and the working environment adapted to the size of the undertaking and the nature of its activities;
(e) to provide, without any cost to the worker, adequate personal protective clothing and equipment which are reasonably necessary when hazards cannot be otherwise prevented or controlled;
(f) to ensure that work organisation, particularly with respect to hours of work and rest breaks, does not adversely affect occupational safety and health;
(g) to take all reasonably practicable measures with a view to eliminating excessive physical and mental fatigue;
(h) to undertake studies and research or otherwise keep abreast of the scientific and technical knowledge necessary to comply with the foregoing clauses.
Workers Responsibilities and Rights
Convention 155 Article 16
There shall be arrangements at the level of the undertaking under which–
(a) workers, in the course of performing their work, co-operate in the fulfilment by their employer of the obligations placed upon him;
(b) representatives of workers in the undertaking co-operate with the employer in the field of occupational safety and health;
(c) representatives of workers in an undertaking are given adequate information on measures taken by the employer to secure occupational safety and health and may consult their representative organisations about such information provided they do not disclose commercial secrets;
(d) workers and their representatives in the undertaking are given appropriate training in occupational safety and health;
(e) workers or their representatives and, as the case may be, their representative organisations in an undertaking, in accordance with national law and practice, are enabled to enquire into, and are consulted by the employer on, all aspects of occupational safety and health associated with their work; for this purpose technical advisers may, by mutual agreement, be brought in from outside the undertaking;
(f) a worker reports forthwith to his immediate supervisor any situation which he has reasonable justification to believe presents an imminent and serious danger to his life or health; until the employer has taken remedial action, if necessary, the employer cannot require workers to return to a work situation where there is continuing imminent and serious danger to life or health.
Recommendation 164 (recommendation 16)
The arrangements provided for in Article 19 of the Convention should aim at ensuring that workers–
(a) take reasonable care for their own safety and that of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work;
(b) comply with instructions given for their own safety and health and those of others and with safety and health procedures;
(c) use safety devices and protective equipment correctly and do not render them inoperative;
(d) report forthwith to their immediate supervisor any situation which they have reason to believe could present a hazard and which they cannot themselves correct;
(e) report any accident or injury to health which arises in the course of or in connection with work.
What enforcement agencies do and what happens if you don’t comply
The ILO Convention concerning the promotional framework for occupational safety
and health (C187 – 2006) requires that each member state shall establish, maintain,
progressively develop and periodically review a national system for occupational
safety and health, in consultation with the most representative organisations of
employers and workers.
The national system for occupational safety and health shall include among others:
- laws and regulations, collective agreements where appropriate, and any other relevant instruments on occupational safety and health;
- an authority or body, or authorities or bodies, responsible for occupational safety and health, designated in accordance with national law and practice;
- mechanisms for ensuring compliance with national laws and regulations, including systems of inspection; and
- arrangements to promote, at the level of the undertaking, cooperation between management, workers and their representatives as an essential element of workplace-related prevention measures.
Approaches to enforcement range from the prescriptive to the goal-setting.
Prescriptive approaches specify precisely what an employer (or other duty holder) is
expected to achieve to be legally compliant. Much of the health and safety legislation
in the USA is considered to be prescriptive in nature.
Goal-setting approaches, such as those used in the UK since the 1970’s and Europe
generally, since the late 1980’s are risk management approaches based on the premise that those who create workplace risks are best placed to determine how to
manage them.
Enforcement options may be classed as preventive (i.e. designed to prevent workers
being injured) or punitive (i.e. to punish an offender for breaking the law).
Approaches may be informal or formal.
Informal approaches involve the provision of verbal and/or written advice and
guidance with a strong recommendation that the employer heeds the advice by a
specified deadline to avoid more formal action. Informal action may be appropriate
where the risk of injury is low and the level of trust in the employer is high.
Formal approaches may include one, or any combination, of the following:
- Issuing a legal notice to stop dangerous activities (prohibition notice);
- Issuing a legal notice requiring improvements in technical controls and/or management systems to ensure legal compliance (improvement notice);
- Issuing a fixed penalty notice to punish a minor or technical contravention of the law;
- Prosecuting corporations or individuals to punish them for breaches of health and safety legislation (the courts may impose fines and costs or prison sentences on those found guilty); or
- Issuing a legal caution, where prosecution for a first or minor offence may not be considered in the public interest.
The part played by international standards (like ISO 45001)
Organisations are not required by law to implement management standards such as ISO 45001 or other similar management standards, but they can help provide a structured framework for ensuring a safe and healthy workplace.
Where you can find information on national standards
There are many sources of information available to support hazard identification and risk management in the workplace. Broadly these can be categorised based on whether the information is available internally (within the organisation) or externally (sourced outside of the organisation).
Internal sources of information are restricted to the range of experiences within the organisation and can be further limited due to inadequate reporting or poor record keeping.
External sources of information provide opportunities to learn from a much broader field of experience and to benchmark against recognised best practice but may not be directly relevant in the context of a specific organisation.
Internal and external sources are generally complementary and used together help to provide useful, contextual information to help identify hazards and evaluate risks.
Internal sources of information
- Accident/incident and ill-health data and rates can help in the identification of hazardous events;
- Incident investigation reports may provide root cause information;
- Occupational illness records are likely to be less useful in cases where there is a long delay between exposure and illness;
- General sickness/absenteeism records may provide useful information on workplace pressure and stress;
- Audit reports provide information on the ongoing effectiveness of the safety management system;
- Risk assessment records will contain information on identified hazards, evaluated risks and previously recommended control measures;
- Safe systems of work provided documented work instructions for workers to follow to help keep themselves and others safe;
- Maintenance records can be a useful source of information on machinery damage and damage to the building fabric; and
- Training records, training needs analyses and competence maps can provide an indication of the competence of individuals and the overall workforce.
External sources of information
- National legislation and supporting guidance (e.g. in the UK Acts of Parliament, Regulations, Approved Codes of Practise and Guidance);
- International / Supra-national / National standards e.g. BS EN ISO 12100:2010 “Safety of machinery – General principles for design – Risk assessment and risk reduction” is a British, European and International standard;
- Manufacturers / Suppliers information such as material safety data sheets for hazardous substances and safe operating instructions for plant and equipment;
- The ILO. The ILO website (www.ilo.org) provides free access to ILO conventions, recommendations and Codes of Practice on a broad range of health and safety issues; and the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) is the knowledge management arm of SafeWork. It provides online access to a range of resources including International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSC); and The ILO Encyclopaedia on Occupational Health and Safety;
- Professional Bodies for health and safety practitioners such as IOSH, the IIRSM or ASSE;
- Related professional bodies such as the Institute of Chemical Engineers, The Institute of Engineering and Technology; British Occupational Hygiene Society etc.;
- Trade/industry bodies such as the Chemical Industries Association;
- National / state enforcement agencies or government departments, e.g.
- UK – Health and Safety Executive (HSE);
- USA – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA);
- Western Australia – Worksafe;
- Canada – The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS);
- Commercial databases of health and safety information, e.g. Technical Indexes, Barbour or Croner;
- Specialist textbooks; and
- Magazines and journals.