On June 10, 2022, the International Labor Conference adopted the Resolution on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work. This Resolution adds a fifth principle to the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, as amended in 2022 – the right to a safe and healthy working environment. The constitutional basis for including OSH in the 1998 Declaration is the same as that for the other four principles. Both the ILO Constitution and the Declaration of Philadelphia contain express references to protection against sickness, disease, and injury arising out of employment and adequate protection for the life and health of workers in all occupations. The Resolution recalls the 2019 ILO Centenary Declaration for the Future of Work, which promotes a human-centered approach to the future of work.
Per the Declaration, the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) shall be considered as fundamental as defined in the 1998 Declaration. The June 2022 Resolution specifically references the COVID-19 pandemic and its “profound and transformative impact on the world of work” as one of the important reasons for incorporating OSH into the 1998 Declaration. In addition, the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster could not be far from the minds of the governmental officials labor leaders, and employer representatives who voted to adopt the amendment to the 1998 Declaration. In June 2022, the ILO called for a workplace safety review after chemical-filled containers at a plant in southeastern Bangladesh combusted, leaving 49 dead and several hundred injured.