Workplace safety 'a global concern'

(Vatican Radio) As International Workers’ Day approaches, May 1, the recent collapse of a garment factory building in Bangladesh, in which about 400 workers died, has raised awareness about the urgent need for greater workplace safety, in particular in developing countries.

On April 28, some 100 countries joined the International Labour Organization to observe the 10^th annual World Day of Safety and Health at Work. This year’s theme was the prevention of occupational diseases.

Seiji Machida, head of the ILO’s SafeWork Programme, said in an era of globalization, where “business is worldwide”, workplace safety is "a global concern".

Machida spoke with Vatican Radio’s Laura Ieraci, in light of the factory collapse in Bangladesh, about the changes that must occur in industry and government to assure greater safety for workers.

Globalization has moved a large amount of manufacturing to developing countries, he said, and the media seems to report more workplace tragedies and deaths from these regions. However, the prevalence of poor workplace safety in these regions is difficult to assess because statistics are hard to come by in developing countries. All the same, their safety conditions are generally poor, he conceded.

“These developing countries do not have a strong legal framework, enforcement for safety and health, training, information to support workplace prevention activities,” he explained. “So, there’s a lot to be done and, compared with Europe, in these developing countries, these protection arrangements… are not fully developed.”

While the death of the Bangladeshi workers on April 24 shocked the world, said Machida, it is yet too soon to tell how it will effect change to improve workplace safety.

“Each country, particularly developing countries, needs to reinforce national systems, with proper or better legal protections, inspection enforcement, training. All these supports should be targeted at the workplace level to help employers (and) workers to really manage the risks,” he advised.

“Everyone should think of the issue, of whatever is happening in Bangladesh, or India, China. It’s not in (isolation)… Business is worldwide,” he continued.

Machida underlined the importance of creating a preventative safety and health culture around work. While there is still much awareness-building to do, he said, an increasing number of countries and industries are discussing the importance of a safety culture.

“This is a global concern. And we need to enforce the protection of workers everywhere,” he said, “but particularly in developing countries.”

Listen to the full interview: