Sweden Latest to Ratify Occupational Safety and Health Convention
Sweden's ratification last month of the ILO Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006, means the convention will become effective there on July 10, 2009. Four other countries -- Finland, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom -- also ratified it recently, so the convention is taking effect in those locations this year and early next year.
The convention and its accompanying recommendation are based on the International Labour Organization's Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health, which encourages preventive safety and health cultures by making occupational safety and health a high priority on national agendas. The documents were adopted in mid-2006 at an ILO General Conference.
They charge each ratifying country with promoting "continuous improvement of occupational safety and health to prevent occupational injuries, diseases and deaths, by the development, in consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers, of a national policy, national system and national programme." The convention also calls for promoting safety and health improvement in small companies and the "informal economy."