On the World Day for Safety and Health at Work
28 April 2022, Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO)
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has established 28 April as “World Day for Safety and Health at Work” to raise awareness and for action to be taken at a global level to prevent accidents and occupational diseases.
According figures released by the ILO:
● 2,200,000 people lose their lives from work accidents and diseases every year, a figure which shows an increase of 10% in recent years.
● An estimated 270 million accidents at work and 160 million cases of occupational diseases.
● Every 15 seconds a worker dies from a work-related accident or diseases.
● By the end of this day 1 million workers will have suffered an accident at work and 5500 workers will have died from a work-related accident or diseases.
This means that Work kills more people than Wars.
Unfortunately, in Cyprus the picture in recent years has been disappointing, with accidents at work rising to an all-time high. Thousands of workers every year are victims of industrial accidents with all the adverse consequences from an industrial accident. The lack of effective prevention measures, the failure to brief and train workers on occupational safety and health issues and many other oversights lead to the terrible results of workers being victims of workplace accidents.
These figures show that there is much to be done, especially with regards preventing accidents at work by employers. Employers must assume their responsibilities under the law and ethics towards working people to minimise accidents at work and occupational diseases.
In addition, the role of the Ministry of Labour and in particular the key role of the Labour Inspection Department in the proper observance and implementation of labour legislation in order to reduce accidents at work and occupational diseases must be pointed out. The Labour Inspection Department must be properly staffed and make its mark strongly on the strict application of the relevant legislation.
In recent years, the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO) has sought to improve the negative situation that exists in Health and Safety with the submission of numerous proposals, but unfortunately we have had no response from the competent authority. Our recommendations include, inter alia, the proposal for the compulsory education and training for newly hired workers and workers employed in high-risk industries, the inclusion of more occupations in the monitoring of workers’ health, the promotion of transparency in the investigation of occupational accidents and the establishment and proper functioning of safety committees.