PL01 HEALTHY, SAFE AND RESILIENT WORKPLACES FOR ALL

Abstract

The goals of the World Health Organization and its 195 Member States for the coming years as stipulated in its 14th General Programme of Work (2025-2028) will be to strengthen the prevention of diseases, to promote health and wellbeing, to protect health in emergencies and to provide health services. Addressing the health impacts of climate change and the determinants of health, as well as health actions in priority settings, such as cities, schools and workplaces are among the key strategies to achieve these goals.Since its creation WHO acted to improve working conditions through different strategies and action plans from industrial health, occupational health, and workers’ health and in collaboration with ILO. Between 2007 and 2018 WHO implemented a global plan of action on workers’ health. Currently, WHO action on occupational health is integrated in the Global Strategy on Health, Environment and Climate Change adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2019. This strategy links occupational health to environmental health and climate change emphasizing the role of workplaces as a key setting for action on prevention of occupational and work-related diseases and injuries, provision of essential health services through workplaces and their integration with primary health care systems.Half of the world population are working adults. The health of the worlds’ workforce and the health determinants related to work and employment are important for achieving the overall objectives of promoting, protecting and providing health. According to recently released joint estimates of WHO and ILO, more than two million deaths annually can be attributed to occupational risks, such as exposure to carcinogens, workplace air pollutants, unergonomic work, noise, and long working hours. There is a growing concern about the impacts of work and employment on mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the role of businesses and workplaces as essential settings for public health and social measures to contain the spread of the disease. Action at workplaces is also vital to protect workers from other public health threats such as periods of severe air pollution, extreme weather events, chemical, radiological and other public emergency hazards.At the recent high-level meetings on universal health coverage and non-communicable diseases, held at the UN General Assembly, countries committed to scaling up efforts to build healthier and safer workplaces, to improve access of workers to occupational health services and stimulate the promotion of health and wellbeing at work.