What they are and whom they address
The ILO published these guidelines to assist organisations, employers, workers, competent institutions and social partners. Their aim is to reduce work-related injuries, diseases, incidents and deaths through coherent management.
They are not limited to one industry and do not require adoption of software. They must be adapted to size, activity, risks and work organisation while retaining the ability to demonstrate what is done and whether it works.
Two levels of application
At national level, they guide the creation of a framework supporting OSH management systems. At organisational level, they promote integrating their elements into overall policies and decisions.
This distinction avoids confusing a public authority’s role with a company’s responsibility. An organisation’s OSH management system needs its own processes even when it uses guidance and support developed by national institutions.
From policy to practice
The starting point is understanding working conditions and establishing an OSH policy that can be translated into responsibilities and actions. Prevention must be present when purchasing, contracting, modifying equipment or planning tasks.
A signed policy does not control an exposure. The organisation needs resources, competence and channels through which workplace information reaches those able to change conditions. Procedures must reflect the work and remain usable.
Participation and monitoring
Participation identifies differences between what is planned and what happens during activities. Observations, consultation and incident investigation should inform decisions rather than remain separate from the work plan.
Monitoring checks implementation and effectiveness of measures. Leading and lagging indicators provide complementary information: a low accident figure alone does not demonstrate that controls are functioning.
How they differ from legislation and certification
Applying voluntary guidance does not remove legal requirements or shift the employer’s responsibility. Keep the obligations applying to each country and activity clearly identified.
Nor should ILO-OSH be presented as a label automatically awarded by the ILO. An organisation may use its principles to improve management and separately decide whether it needs a certification scheme. These are different decisions with different criteria and evidence.
Hypothetical example: changes in maintenance
A company finds that urgent interventions are organised outside the usual process. It reviews who authorises work, how risks are identified and what information those involved receive. Measures, responsibilities and follow-up are agreed.
At the subsequent review, it does not merely count documents: it checks several actual interventions and gathers the team’s difficulties. If deviations persist, resources and planning are adjusted. The system’s value lies in completing that improvement cycle.
