ILO Convention 155

What is ILO Convention 155?

Until 1981, the ILO had regulated occupational safety and health by sector and specific risks (radiation, benzene, occupational cancer, mines). Convention 155 changed the approach: instead of lists of hazards, it established a general framework based on a national prevention policy, formulated in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, covering all branches of activity and all workers, with the objective of preventing accidents and damage to health that result from, are related to, or occur during work, minimizing, as far as is reasonable and practicable, the causes of risks inherent in the work environment.

The agreement is structured in five parts: scope and definitions; principles of a national policy; action at the national level; action at the company level; and final provisions. Its approach anticipated that later adopted by Framework Directive 89/391/EEC and, through it, Law 31/1995: the employer’s general duty of protection, assessment and control of risks at the source, information and training, worker consultation and participation , and the right to stop work in the face of imminent and serious danger without suffering unjustified consequences.

The 2002 Protocol to Convention 155 supplements the instrument with obligations regarding the registration and notification of occupational accidents and diseases and the publication of statistics. Recommendation 164, adopted alongside the Convention, provides practical guidance on measures at the national and company levels.

Main content

• National policy (Articles 4 to 7). Each State shall formulate, implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on safety, health and the work environment, taking into account the material components of work, the relationships between these and people, training, communication and cooperation, and protection against disciplinary measures for justified actions.
• Action at the national level (articles 8 to 15). Legislation or regulations, adequate and appropriate inspection system, design and use conditions of machinery and substances, notification of accidents and illnesses, investigation of serious accidents, publication of statistics, training at all levels and coordination between authorities.
• Action at the company level (Articles 16 to 21). Obligation of the employer to ensure, to the extent that it is reasonable and practicable, that workplaces, machinery, equipment and operations are safe and do not pose a risk to health; that chemical, physical and biological agents do not pose risks; provision of protective clothing and equipment; emergency measures and first aid; cooperation between employers operating in the same place; and that the measures do not entail any financial burden for workers.
• Workers’ rights. Cooperation in the company, information and training, consultation, the right to examine all aspects of safety and health, and the right to withdraw from a work situation with imminent and serious danger to life or health.
• 2002 Protocol. Registration of accidents and occupational diseases, notification to the competent authority, participation in harmonised systems and statistics.

Current relevance

• Fundamental principle. Since 2022, safety and health has been the fifth fundamental principle and right at work of the ILO, and Conventions 155 and 187 are fundamental, with an obligation for all member States to respect and promote their principles even if they have not ratified them.
• Regulatory reference. It is the basis of prevention legislation in numerous countries, particularly in Latin America, and of the European framework Directive.
• Supply chain. International standards and human rights due diligence frameworks refer to fundamental conventions, reinforcing their use in supplier management and sustainability reporting.
• Management systems. Their principles are reflected in the ISO 45001 standard and in the ILO-OSH 2001 guidelines on occupational health and safety management systems.

Organizational application: how to use Convention 155

1. Identify in which countries the organization operates and verify the ratification of Convention 155 and the 2002 Protocol, along with the national legislation that develops them.
2. Use its principles as a common framework for the management system in multinational groups, aligned with ISO 45001 and with the most demanding local legislation.
3. Incorporate the rights of the agreement into the preventive policy: information, training, consultation, participation and interruption of work in the face of serious and imminent danger without reprisals.
4. Apply cooperation between employers present in the same workplace as the basis for coordinating activities.
5. Require suppliers and contractors to respect the principles of the Convention in due diligence processes.
6. Register and report accidents and occupational diseases in accordance with the 2002 Protocol and national regulations.
7. To train management and prevention officers within the framework of the ILO and its relationship with applicable legislation.

Multinational preventive management software allows the application of a common framework based on the principles of the convention and, at the same time, the management of country-specific legal requirements and evidence of compliance.

Limits and common mistakes

1. Confusing the agreement with applicable national legislation: its obligations are directed to the States and are specified in internal regulations.
2. Assuming that ratification guarantees its effective application without checking the legislation and inspection of each country.
3. Ignoring Recommendation 164 and the 2002 Protocol, which provide complementary guidance and obligations.
4. Forgetting the right of workers to interrupt work in the face of serious and imminent danger in internal policies.
5. Do not use the convention as a reference in supply chain due diligence.
6. To consider it a historical text and not a current instrument of fundamental rank.

The authentic text and the status of ratifications can be consulted in the ILO’s NORMLEX system.

Regulatory and reference framework

• ILO Convention 155 (1981) . Official text of the Convention on Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment.
• 2002 Protocol to Convention 155. Registration and notification of work-related accidents and occupational diseases.
• ILO Convention 187 (2006) . Promotional framework for occupational safety and health.
• Instrument of ratification of Convention 155 by Spain . Published in the Official State Gazette in 1985.
• Directive 89/391/EEC . European framework directive inspired by the principles of Convention 155.

The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, amended in 2022, incorporates the safe and healthy working environment as a fundamental principle; in Spain, Law 31/1995 develops the framework with the force of law.