New global occupational safety and health coalition will be launched

Several countries and international organisations are committed to accelerating the improvement of working conditions through closer cooperation.

The Global Coalition on Occupational Safety and Health, established on Finland's initiative, will be presented tomorrow, on 12 November, at the Vision Zero Summit in Helsinki. The event is one of the official side events during  Finland’s Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Global coalition is chaired by ILO 

The Global Coalition is established with a group of international founding partners: the International Labour Organization (ILO), the International Commission on Occupational Health (ICOH), the European Commission, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore and the World Health Organization (WHO) as an observer.           

The coalition is chaired by the ILO and guided by a steering committee. The aim of the coalition is to introduce practical solutions to improve working conditions around the world. This will done by implementing the commitments of the UN, the G7 and the G20 countries and the European Union on improving occupational health and safety. 

At the Vision Zero Summit, the coalition will be published and presented by Aino-Kaisa Pekonen, the Finnish Minister of Social Affairs and Health.

“As work changes, it is clear that occupational safety and health must also change. I believe that the importance of occupational safety and health will increase as technology develops and work takes new forms – occupational safety and health will become increasingly important. We need new forms of cross-border cooperation,” says Minister Pekonen.

Finland is a pioneer in occupational safety and health

In Finland, occupational safety and health has a long history: OSH regulations are among the oldest Finnish legislation concerning social policy. 

Finland has also a long tradition of tripartite cooperation between the government, workers and employers in occupational safety and health issues.

The Vision Zero approach has gained a strong foothold in Finland. Finland established a national Zero Accident Forum for enterprises in 2003 and almost 450 enterprises have joined the forum by now. As a practice, the Zero Accident Forum has also attracted interest in other countries. 

“Safe and healthy work is a basic human right”, says Minister Pekonen.

The Global Coalition on Occupational Safety and Health will be introduced and streamed online at the Vision Zero Summit 2019, Helsinki.

Date:        Tuesday 12 November 2019

Time:        9.30 – 10.15 am (local time in Helsinki, Eastern European Time)

                 8.30 – 9.15 am (CET, Central European Time)

                 7.30 – 8.15 am (UCT, GMT, Greenwich Mean Time)

Venue:     Hotel Clarion, Tyynenmerenkatu 2, Helsinki, Finland 

•  Link to the live stream (The Launch will be recorded and also the record can be found here)
•  Link to the Vision Zero Summit website
•  Link to an ILO website presenting the coalition

Inquiries:

Päivi Hämäläinen, Senior Specialist, tel. +358 295 163 590, [email protected]