What kind of Employment Injury Benefits Convention does the Modern Society Need?

Transcription

1 What kind of Employment Injury Benefits Convention does the Modern Society Need?

2 ILO Employment Injury Benefits Convention (C121) Adopted in July 1964 Protects EMPLOYEES Time changes!

3 Full-time employees?

4 Forms of Employment Recommendation 1 All who engage in effective economic activity should be regarded as workers.

5 Top of the profit chain - least responsibility? High worker mobility Taking TNC to account? Differing standards across countries

6 Globalisation Recommendations 11, 12

7 Occupational Diseases Multiple workplace Causation difficult to prove - scientifically and evidentially Long term protection? Multiple Chemicals Diagnosis Uncertainty in length and kind of treatment needed - compensation? Treatment Relapse Work A Work B Work C Work D Exposure

8 Occupational Diseases Recommendations 6, 7, 8, 9

9 Gender Surge in no of female workers BUT... skilled manual male employee ordinary adult male laborer Complete lack of gender perspective! Recommendation 2

10 ILO Core Labour Standards Where s OSH? Recommendation 16

11 Recommendation 1 The Convention should protect all workers, including, but not limited to, public and private sector employees, apprentices, informal employees, dispatch workers, student workers, domestic workers, self-employed, farmers, fishermen, and so on. All persons engage in effective economic activity should be regarded as workers.

12 Recommendation 2 Workers of both genders should enjoy equal treatment and protection. Female workers shall enjoy special protection during special biological periods.

13 Recommendation 3 The drafting and implementation of occupational safety policies and regulations should involve representatives of workers, employers, government, victim organizations, and occupational health and safety experts.

14 Recommendation 4 All State Parties should define work injury based upon the principle of generous, fast, and simple. All workers who are harmed in the course of work should be regarded as having a work injury. Fact that the accident happened during working hour and in the workplace should be treated as sufficient but not necessary collaborative evidence. Where evidence was missing or unclear, workers should enjoy the benefit of the doubt.

15 Recommendation 5 State Parties should set up a work injury reporting mechanism by imposing an obligation on all employers to report work injuries within certain time limit. The judiciary should ensure open hearings are conducted for all work accidents that involve workers death. Work injury statistics should be made public.

16 Recommendation 6 State Parties should define occupational diseases generously through legislation, together with: A) A list of occupational diseases, including but not limited to those scheduled in this Convention. All workers should automatically be treated as an occupational disease patient when their conditions, as diagnosed by any qualified doctor, are listed. No extra administrative process is necessary. This list should be updated regularly. B) Additional provisions, which allow diseases falling outside the list be recognised as occupational where the situation calls for it.

17 Recommendation 7 Recognition of occupational diseases should not be limited to strict proof of causation. If the following situations arise: A) Abnormal disease rate in the same working environment, or; B) Worker suffered disease with unknown cause, and his or her work environment contains harmful substances, or; C) Worker worked in a number of different workplaces, and the nature of his work bring him into contact with disease causing substances; The workers concerned may be deemed to have occupational diseases.

18 Recommendation 8 Occupational disease compensation should protect families of the workers who are affected by the same pathogen.

19 Recommendation 9 State Parties should set up central compensation fund in order to guarantee the long term needs of occupational disease patients. Dedicated funds should be set up to take care of the special needs of particular types of occupational diseases.

20 Recommendation 10 Periodic allowances should be calculated with regard to the worker s own earning capacity and the level of local economic development. A decent standard of living of should be maintained. The level should be reviewed periodically.

21 Recommendation 11 State Parties should prosecute legal persons that violate OSH regulations. Victims should have the right to bring private prosecution. State Parties should provide assistance to victims in inter-state litigation.

22 Recommendation 12 The ILO catastrophic occupational health and safety accident investigation team can intervene in any catastrophic occupational accidents happened within the territory of a State Party, and set up an independent special tribunal to investigate and sanction relevant parties.

23 Recommendation 13 State Parties should ensure occupational health and safety is included in secondary school curriculum. University and qualified vocational and technical training schools should set up special OSH training courses.

24 Recommendation 14 State Parties should formulate comprehensive health care, employment and social rehabilitation policies.

25 Recommendation 15 State Parties should establish and regularly review a list of controlled substances. The use of hazardous and poisonous substances in industrial applications should be strictly restricted.

26 Recommendation 16 ILO should recognise occupational health rights as one of its core labor standards.