Website brings together safety and health info

An European Agency For Safety And Health At Work product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 11, 2002

The European Union and the International Labour Organisation have taken an important step towards co-operation on occupational safety and health (OSH) information.

The European Union and the International Labour Organisation have taken an important step towards co-operation on occupational safety and health (OSH) information.

The International Labour Office (ILO) and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in Bilbao (Spain) have launched a new joint OSH website.

The site follows the structure and presentation of the agency's website network and is a major contribution to the creation of a global portal for workplace safety and health information.

As well as linking directly to EU information, the site is a rich source of information from the ILO on its OSH resources.

In addition to the flagship SafeWork programme, users will find the International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centre (CIS) and the OSH-related activities of programmes throughout the organisation.

The European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, said that: "The European Commission's strategy on 'quality at work' includes safety and health amongst the key elements in creating high-quality jobs and living standards.

Likewise, the ILO's 'Decent Work' initiative includes safety and health as one of its key InFocus Programmes, 'SafeWork', under this initiative which intends to create productive work in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity.

By bringing together the combined health and safety information resources of the ILO and the EU, this joint ILO-European Agency web-site marks an important step towards both these goals.

I am sure that this web-site will be an excellent means of co-operation between the ILO and the EU in promoting joint information on health and safety standards, good practice and research and thus encourage the promotion of our shared objectives".

Juan Somavia, Director-General of the ILO commented: "The International Labour Organisation was founded to ensure everyone the right to earn a living in freedom, dignity and security, in short, the right to decent work.

We have never accepted the belief that injury and disease 'go with the job'.

In the course of this century industrialised countries have seen a clear decrease in serious injuries, not least because of real advances in making the workplace healthier and safer.

The challenge is to extend the benefits of this experience to the whole working world.

SafeWork is designed to respond to this need".

SafeWork Director Jukka Takala noted that the ILO's global estimates of 1.2 million work-related fatalities, 250 million injuries and 160 million cases of work-related disease per year are totals that mask great differences in rates and causes at the national level: "There is great variety just within Europe, and the picture becomes more complex the farther we look.

Yet whatever the situation, information technology can help us reduce the toll by acquiring facts about problems, researching methods for solving them and storing our acquired expertise for the future.

An Internet portal is ideal for matching the diverse information needs of the worldwide OSH community with the equally diverse experience of the ILO and its constituents".

The Director of the European Agency, Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, said: "The launch of the ILO web-site adds a significant dimension to the Agency's network.

It will enable businesses, workers and experts to be better informed about the huge amount of work the ILO has done internationally towards creating a safer working environment for workers".

The EU/ILO website is at www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/euportal.