On June 29, 2008, the XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work signed the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work. The declaration included statements concerning national governments' responsibility for perpetuating a "national preventative safety and health culture", for improving their national safe-workplace performance systematically, and for providing a health standard with appropriate enforcement to protect workers. The declaration also listed responsibilities of employers, stated the rights of workers, and emphasized the importance of promoting a culture of safety

Safety culture

Safety culture is a term used to describe the way in which safety is managed in the workplace, and often reflects "the attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to safety" .-Defining safety culture:...

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The XVIII World Congress on Safety and Health at Work

Every three years, the International Labour Organization

International Labour Organization

The International Labour Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that deals with labour issues pertaining to international labour standards. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. Its secretariat — the people who are employed by it throughout the world — is known as the...

 (ILO) and International Social Security Association

International Social Security Association

The International Social Security Association is an international organization bringing together national social security administrations and agencies. Founded in 1927, the ISSA has around 340 member organizations in 150 countries. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, in the...

 (ISSA) organize a World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, bringing together government ministers, corporate leaders, health experts, and employer and worker representatives. The XVIII World Congress was sponsored by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) and convened from June 29, 2008 through July 2, 2008, in Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. The Congress drew over 4,000 participants from 100 countries and resulted in the signing of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work.

Groundwork for the Seoul Declaration

The genesis of the Seoul Declaration came with the first Safety and Health Summit. The approximately 50 representatives at the Summit signed a Declaration of Safety and Health at Work. This document outlined standards through which workers, employers, and governments could collaborate to reduce workplace accidents and disease. The work was subsequently expanded upon, resulting ultimately in the Seoul Declaration later that year.

Provisions of the Seoul Declaration

The Seoul Declaration recognizes worker safety as a basic human right and emphasizes workplace safety's positive impact on working conditions, productivity, and economic and social development. The declaration addresses government, employer, and worker responsibilities, and describes the commitment made by the document's signatories.

Government

The declaration urges governments to implement effective labor inspection systems that focus on improving national performance systematically. It encourages governments to ratify of the ILO Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187).

Employers

The declaration pronounces the relationship between high safety and health standards at work and good business performance. Employers are encouraged to implement management systems to improve workplace safety and health and to guarantee that workers are consulted, trained, informed and involved in the process.

Worker responsibilities

The declaration calls upon workers to follow safety and health instructions and procedures, to properly use personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment

Personal protective equipment refers to protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garment or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury by blunt impacts, electrical hazards, heat, chemicals, and infection, for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, and in...

, to participate in safety and health training, and to cooperate with their employer in adhering to measures related to their safety and health at work.

Signatories

In accepting the Seoul Declaration, signatories committed to promote a preventative safety and health culture and push workplace safety in their various national agendas. Additional they agreed to revisit the declaration and review its progress at the next meeting of the Congress.

Website

Official Website of the Seoul Declaration on Safety and Health at Work