Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2005 02:35:27 -0400
From: Gary Greenberg <gngreenberg@...>
Subject: Reuters/ILO: Int'l Wk-rel. Deaths & Disabilities Rise

Joint Press Release ILO/WHO

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2005/21.htm

Number of Work related Accidents and Illnesses Continues to Increase

ILO and WHO Join in Call for Prevention Strategies

Thursday 28 April 2005 (ILO/05/21)

GENEVA (ILO News) - Faced with a rising toll of occupational related
death, injury and sickness, the International Labour Office (ILO) and
the World Health Organization (WHO) today mark the World Day for
Safety and Health at Work by highlighting the need for a preventative
safety culture worldwide.

According to new estimates by the ILO, the number of job related
accidents and illnesses, which annually claim more than two million
lives, appears to be rising because of rapid industrialization in some
developing countries.

What's more, a new assessment of workplace accidents and illness
indicates (Note 1) that the risk of occupational disease has become by
far the most prevalent danger faced by people at their jobs -
accounting for 1.7 million annual work related deaths and outpacing
fatal accidents by four to one.

In its latest estimates, the ILO found that in addition to job related
deaths, each year there are some 268 million non fatal workplace
accidents in which the victims miss at least three days of work as a
result, as well as 160 million new cases of work related illness. The
ILO has previously estimated that workplace accidents and illness are
responsible for the loss of some four per cent of the world's GDP in
compensation and absence from work.

Broken down by region, the figures indicate that workplace accidents
have levelled off in many industrialized and newly industrialized
countries, while some countries now undergoing rapid development in
Asia and Latin America are experiencing increases. For example, the
ILO analysis showed that while the number of fatal and non fatal
workplace accidents held steady or declined in most regions, in China
the estimated number of fatal accidents rose from 73,500 in 1998 to
90,500 in 2001 (Note 2) , while accidents causing three or more days
absence from work increased from 56 million to 69 million. Meanwhile,
in Latin America, a rise in the total number of persons employed and
growth in the construction sector, particularly in Brazil and Mexico,
appear to have lead to an annual increase in fatal accidents from
29,500 to 39,500 over the same time period.

"This is happening because in the newly developing countries workers
are often coming out of the rural areas, with few skills and very
little training in safe work practices", says Jukka Takala, Director
of the ILO's Safework Programme. "Most have never worked with heavy
machinery, and some have little or no experience with industrial
hazards such as electricity, so they don't know how dangerous these
things can be. Yet these are elements of the kinds of jobs that are
available for low skilled workers in rapidly industrializing
countries."

"Once countries reach a more mature stage of development, there is a
shift from construction to less dangerous service jobs and the
accident rates begin to level off. We are seeing this now in South
Korea, for example", Takala added.

The most common workplace illnesses are cancers from exposure to
hazardous substances, musculoskeletal diseases, respiratory diseases,
hearing loss, circulatory diseases and communicable diseases caused by
exposure to pathogens. In many industrialized countries, where the
number of deaths from work related accidents has been falling, deaths
from occupational disease, notably asbestosis, is on the rise.
Globally, asbestos alone is responsible for 100,000 occupational
deaths per year. Meanwhile, in the agricultural sector, which employs
half the world's workforce and is predominant in most underdeveloped
countries, the use of pesticides causes some 70,000 poisoning deaths
each year, and at least seven million cases of acute and long term non
fatal illnesses, as stated in the assessment.

Improving the health of workers has led the ILO and WHO to cooperate
closely on occupational safety and health issues. WHO helps countries
to implement preventive strategies with a network of 70 Collaborating
Centres, based on its Global Strategy on Occupation Health for All.

"Despite significant improvements in health and safety in many parts
of the world over the past several decades, the global challenge of
providing for worker health and safety is ever greater today", said Dr
Kerstin Leitner, Assistant Director General for Healthy Environments
and Sustainable Development at WHO. "Significant and more long lasting
health gains could be achieved if greater emphasis were placed on
effective policies and programmes for primary prevention. In many
locations, particularly in developing countries, these are weak or
virtually non existent. From a public health perspective, prevention
through safety measures is better and also less expensive not only to
workers individually, but to the society at large."

The three cornerstones of WHO's occupational health work focus on
supporting the development and implementation of occupational health
policies and action plans to countries in strengthening surveillance,
estimating the occupational health burden and in developing "basic"
national occupational health profiles. Another key role is to build
capacity through a network of WHO Collaboration Centres in
Occupational Health making current information on various risk factors
(chemical, physical, ergonomic, psychosocial, biological, accidents)
widely available. Finally, WHO defines a minimum package of
occupational health services that each country should establish with a
focus on primary prevention.

The ILO also cited new data showing that in the construction industry,
at least 60,000 fatal workplace accidents occur each year worldwide -
or about one death every 10 minutes. About 17 per cent of all fatal
workplace accidents occur in this sector, while construction workers
also face a number of health risks, including exposure to asbestos
laden dusts, silica and hazardous chemicals. In line with ILO
conventions, recommendations and guidelines, the report pinpoints the
need for better planning and coordination with regard to addressing
safety and health issues on construction sites, as well as a greater
focus on reducing work related ill health and disease.

More generally, the ILO also predicted increases in the number of
young people (age 15 to 24) and older people (age 60 and over)
entering the workforce over the next 15 years, and warned that workers
in these two age groups tend to suffer higher on the job accident
rates. The report calls for the development of specially tailored
accident and disease prevention programmes for workers in these two
age groups.

Special World Day commemorative activities and events are expected in
more than 100 countries. Both the ILO and WHO are committed to
promoting and strengthening increased cooperation at the national
level between ministries of labour and ministries of health as well as
businesses, workers' organizations and other civil society
stakeholders.

The link to World Day for Safety and Health at Work home page can be
found online at
www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/worldday/index.htm

Further information can be found at www.ilo.org/safework

For more information, please contact:

* The ILO Department of Communication at: tel: +4122/799 7912 or
email: communication@...

* Ms. Nada Osseiran, Technical Officer, Communications and Advocacy,
Protection of the Human Environment, World Health Organization (WHO),
Geneva, tel: +4122/791 4475, email: osseirann@...

= - = - = - = -

Two Million a Year Die From Work Accidents, Disease - ILO

http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/30624/story.htm
[Please visit the original website to view the whole article. - Mod.]

SWITZERLAND: April 29, 2005

GENEVA - Work-related accidents and illness kill more than two million
people a year and are rising in some developing countries including
China and Brazil, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on
Thursday.

Occupational illnesses -- including cancers from exposure to hazardous
substances and respiratory and communicable diseases -- are the main
danger faced in the workplace, accounting for 1.7 million deaths.

Asbestosis, a slow scarring of the lungs from inhaling high
concentrations of dust from asbestos used in construction and
insulation, is also increasing and accounts for 100,000 occupational
deaths worldwide per year, the ILO added.

In a statement issued on World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the
ILO and World Health Organisation -- both United Nations agencies --
called for better prevention measures to protect workers.

While the number of workplace accidents held steady or declined in
most regions, the estimated number of fatal accidents in China rose to
90,500 in 2001 from 73,500 in 1998, according to the ILO.

Booming construction in parts of Latin America, particularly Brazil
and Mexico, has led to an increase in fatal accidents to 39,500 a year
from 29,500 over the same period, it added.

...

The ILO has estimated that four percent of the world's gross domestic
product is lost each year to death, injury and disease through absence
from work and compensation.

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

--
Gary N. Greenberg, MD MPH Sysop / Moderator Occ-Env-Med-L MailList
gary.greenberg@... Duke Occupat, Environ, Int & Fam Medicine
OEM-L Maillist Website: http://occhealthnews.net

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SOURCE: Occ-Env-Med-L Digest - 28 Apr 2005 to 29 Apr 2005 (#2005-114)