What is the ILO?
The International Labour Organization was established in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the First World War, on the premise that universal and lasting peace can only be based on social justice. It has been a specialized agency of the United Nations system since 1946 and, unlike any other agency in that system, has a tripartite structure: delegations from governments, employers’ organizations, and workers’ organizations participate with their own voices in its International Labour Conference and Governing Body.
It has 187 Member States and its headquarters are in Geneva. Its main instrument of action is the international labor conventions and recommendations, adopted at the International Labour Conference, which meets annually.
The ILO’s normative mandate on occupational safety and health
Unlike other international organizations that work on labor or occupational health issues from a health or social security perspective, the ILO is the only organization with the power to adopt international labor conventions—treaties that member states can ratify and which, once ratified, create legally binding obligations within their domestic legal systems. This is the essential difference that distinguishes its role from that of organizations like the World Health Organization or associations like the International Social Security Association: none of them have this normative function.
In occupational safety and health, the two central conventions of this regulatory body are Convention 155 and Convention 187, which are described below.
Convention 155 on occupational safety and health
Convention 155 on occupational safety and health was adopted on 22 June 1981, during the 67th session of the International Labour Conference, accompanied by Recommendation 164. It establishes the general framework for the management of occupational safety and health at both the national and individual workplace levels: it obliges ratifying States to formulate, implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on occupational safety and health and the working environment, and sets out the basic obligations of employers and workers at the enterprise level.
Its approach is progressive: it allows each State to adapt the pace and priorities of implementation to its national conditions, which has facilitated its ratification by countries with very different levels of regulatory development.
Convention 187 on the Promotional Framework for Safety and Health at Work
Convention 187 concerning the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health was adopted on 15 June 2006, at the 95th Session of the International Labour Conference, together with Recommendation 197. Unlike Convention 155, which sets out substantive obligations, Convention 187 requires ratifying States to progressively develop, in consultation with employers’ and workers’ organizations, a national policy, a national system and a national programme for occupational safety and health, with the stated objective of promoting a culture of prevention.
Incorporation as a fundamental principle and right in the workplace
In June 2022, the 110th session of the International Labour Conference adopted the decision to include a safe and healthy working environment among the ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work, designating Convention 155 and Convention 187 as fundamental conventions for this purpose.
This decision has a specific legal consequence that should be clearly explained, as it often generates confusion: a fundamental convention is one thing, and a State’s ratification of it is another. A ratified convention binds the State to the specific articles it has accepted. A fundamental convention, on the other hand, obliges all ILO Member States, simply by virtue of their membership, to respect, promote, and implement in good faith the principle it embodies, regardless of whether they have formally ratified it. Therefore, since 2022, all ILO Member States, whether they have ratified it or not, have the obligation to respect and promote the principle of a safe and healthy working environment; only those that ratify Convention 155 or Convention 187 are also bound by their detailed articles.
Strategy, programs and conferences
The ILO has adopted a global strategy on occupational safety and health for the period 2024-2030, aimed at addressing both traditional and emerging occupational risks, including those linked to climate change, new technologies and changing forms of work.
In the area of development cooperation, the ILO promotes the Safety + Health for All program, which mobilizes resources to strengthen worker protection in low- and middle-income countries. A subprogram called the Vision Zero Fund is part of this program. It is important to distinguish this from the Vision Zero campaign promoted by the International Social Security Association (ISSA): they share a name and a preventive focus, but they are distinct initiatives from different organizations and with different instruments. The ILO’s fund is a technical cooperation fund geared towards global supply chains, while the ISSA’s fund is an awareness campaign and a methodology for implementation within companies.
Since 2003, the ILO has promoted April 28 as World Day for Safety and Health at Work, an awareness day that focuses on a different aspect of the discipline each year.
Practical application
For a technician or a prevention service, Convention 155 and Convention 187 are the obligatory reference to understand where a good part of the principles that are later included in national laws on occupational risk prevention come from, including the Spanish Law 31/1995 and its equivalents in other countries: national OSH policy, national system, participation of employers and workers, and management of prevention in the company are concepts that both conventions already included before being transferred to internal legislation.
For an organization, understanding the difference between a fundamental convention and a ratified convention helps to accurately assess the level of international requirements applicable to it, regardless of whether its country has formally ratified one or the other instrument: the principle of a safe and healthy working environment already applies, in any case, simply by virtue of the country’s membership in the ILO.
