The 2023 World Day for Safety and Health at Work will be commemorated on 28 April 2023 and will explore the topic of a safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle and right at work.
It coincides with the April 28 International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers. The initiative, which began in 2003, is an international campaign promoting safe, healthy and decent work around the globe.
The history of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work has its origins as far back as the end of the First World War.
The founding objectives includes “the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his or her employment.”
Often, “health and safety” can be colloquially used as shorthand for “red tape”, “extra paper work”, or “spoiling the fun”. Yet the Day serves as a reminder that health and safety regulations are important to everyone – and that failure to comply with them can have catastrophic consequences.
Health and safety is both a collective and individual responsibility. Everyone from directors, to managers, to workers must look out for their own safety and those around them. A health and safety incident can impact both organisations and individuals in a wide range of ways: from the financial costs to the risk to the liberty of individuals, if a prosecution results in a custodial sentence.Of course, at the centre of all this, is the death or injury of an individual, and the pain they and their family will experience.
So, for this World Day for Safety and Health at Work, perhaps take a moment to think about how your department performs on health and safety and how you can take positive steps to improve it.
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