C155 - Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155)
Convention
concerning Occupational Safety and Health and the Working Environment (Entry
into force: 11 Aug 1983)
Adoption: Geneva, 67th ILC session (22 Jun 1981)
Preamble
The
General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,
Having
been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour
Office, and having met in its Sixty-seventh Session on 3 June 1981, and
Having
decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to safety and health
and the working environment, which is the sixth item on the agenda of the
session, and
Having
determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international
Convention,
adopts
this twenty-second day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and
eighty-one the following Convention, which may be cited as the Occupational
Safety and Health Convention, 1981:
PART
I. SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS
Article
1
1.
This Convention applies to all branches of economic activity.
2.
A Member ratifying this Convention may, after consultation at the earliest
possible stage with the representative organisations of employers and workers
concerned, exclude from its application, in part or in whole, particular
branches of economic activity, such as maritime shipping or fishing, in respect
of which special problems of a substantial nature arise.
3.
Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list, in the first report on
the application of the Convention submitted under Article 22 of the
Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, any branches which may
have been excluded in pursuance of paragraph 2 of this Article, giving the
reasons for such exclusion and describing the measures taken to give adequate
protection to workers in excluded branches, and shall indicate in subsequent
reports any progress towards wider application.
Article
2
1.
This Convention applies to all workers in the branches of economic activity
covered.
2.
A Member ratifying this Convention may, after consultation at the earliest
possible stage with the representative organisations of employers and workers
concerned, exclude from its application, in part or in whole, limited
categories of workers in respect of which there are particular difficulties.
3.
Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list, in the first report on
the application of the Convention submitted under Article 22 of the
Constitution of the International Labour Organisation, any limited categories
of workers which may have been excluded in pursuance of paragraph 2 of this
Article, giving the reasons for such exclusion, and shall indicate in
subsequent reports any progress towards wider application.
Article
3
For
the purpose of this Convention--
- (a) the term branches of
economic activity covers all branches in which workers are
employed, including the public service;
- (b) the term workers
covers all employed persons, including public employees;
- (c) the term workplace
covers all places where workers need to be or to go by reason of their work
and which are under the direct or indirect control of the employer;
- (d) the term regulations
covers all provisions given force of law by the competent authority or
authorities;
- (e) the term health
, in relation to work, indicates not merely the absence of disease or
infirmity; it also includes the physical and mental elements affecting
health which are directly related to safety and hygiene at work.
PART
II. PRINCIPLES OF NATIONAL POLICY
Article
4
- 1. Each Member shall, in the
light of national conditions and practice, and in consultation with the
most representative organisations of employers and workers, formulate,
implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on
occupational safety, occupational health and the working environment.
- 2. The aim of the policy shall
be to prevent accidents and injury to health arising out of, linked with
or occurring in the course of work, by minimising, so far as is reasonably
practicable, the causes of hazards inherent in the working environment.
Article
5
The
policy referred to in Article 4 of this Convention shall take account of the
following main spheres of action in so far as they affect occupational safety
and health and the working environment:
- (a) design, testing, choice,
substitution, installation, arrangement, use and maintenance of the
material elements of work (workplaces, working environment, tools,
machinery and equipment, chemical, physical and biological substances and
agents, work processes);
- (b) relationships between the
material elements of work and the persons who carry out or supervise the
work, and adaptation of machinery, equipment, working time, organisation
of work and work processes to the physical and mental capacities of the
workers;
- (c) training, including
necessary further training, qualifications and motivations of persons
involved, in one capacity or another, in the achievement of adequate
levels of safety and health;
- (d) communication and
co-operation at the levels of the working group and the undertaking and at
all other appropriate levels up to and including the national level;
- (e) the protection of workers
and their representatives from disciplinary measures as a result of
actions properly taken by them in conformity with the policy referred to
in Article 4 of this Convention.
Article
6
The
formulation of the policy referred to in Article 4 of this Convention shall
indicate the respective functions and responsibilities in respect of
occupational safety and health and the working environment of public
authorities, employers, workers and others, taking account both of the
complementary character of such responsibilities and of national conditions and
practice.
Article
7
The
situation regarding occupational safety and health and the working environment
shall be reviewed at appropriate intervals, either over-all or in respect of
particular areas, with a view to identifying major problems, evolving effective
methods for dealing with them and priorities of action, and evaluating results.
PART
III. ACTION AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Article
8
Each
Member shall, by laws or regulations or any other method consistent with
national conditions and practice and in consultation with the representative
organisations of employers and workers concerned, take such steps as may be
necessary to give effect to Article 4 of this Convention.
Article
9
- 1. The enforcement of laws and
regulations concerning occupational safety and health and the working
environment shall be secured by an adequate and appropriate system of
inspection.
- 2. The enforcement system shall
provide for adequate penalties for violations of the laws and regulations.
Article
10
Measures
shall be taken to provide guidance to employers and workers so as to help them
to comply with legal obligations.
Article
11
To
give effect to the policy referred to in Article 4 of this Convention, the
competent authority or authorities shall ensure that the following functions
are progressively carried out:
- (a) the determination, where
the nature and degree of hazards so require, of conditions governing the
design, construction and layout of undertakings, the commencement of their
operations, major alterations affecting them and changes in their
purposes, the safety of technical equipment used at work, as well as the
application of procedures defined by the competent authorities;
- (b) the determination of work
processes and of substances and agents the exposure to which is to be
prohibited, limited or made subject to authorisation or control by the
competent authority or authorities; health hazards due to the simultaneous
exposure to several substances or agents shall be taken into
consideration;
- (c) the establishment and
application of procedures for the notification of occupational accidents
and diseases, by employers and, when appropriate, insurance institutions
and others directly concerned, and the production of annual statistics on
occupational accidents and diseases;
- (d) the holding of inquiries,
where cases of occupational accidents, occupational diseases or any other
injuries to health which arise in the course of or in connection with work
appear to reflect situations which are serious;
- (e) the publication, annually,
of information on measures taken in pursuance of the policy referred to in
Article 4 of this Convention and on occupational accidents, occupational
diseases and other injuries to health which arise in the course of or in
connection with work;
- (f) the introduction or
extension of systems, taking into account national conditions and
possibilities, to examine chemical, physical and biological agents in
respect of the risk to the health of workers.
Article
12
Measures
shall be taken, in accordance with national law and practice, with a view to
ensuring that those who design, manufacture, import, provide or transfer
machinery, equipment or substances for occupational use--
- (a) satisfy themselves that, so
far as is reasonably practicable, the machinery, equipment or substance
does not entail dangers for the safety and health of those using it
correctly;
- (b) make available information
concerning the correct installation and use of machinery and equipment and
the correct use of substances, and information on hazards of machinery and
equipment and dangerous properties of chemical substances and physical and
biological agents or products, as well as instructions on how known
hazards are to be avoided;
- (c) undertake studies and
research or otherwise keep abreast of the scientific and technical
knowledge necessary to comply with subparagraphs (a) and (b) of this
Article.
Article
13
A
worker who has removed himself from a work situation which he has reasonable
justification to believe presents an imminent and serious danger to his life or
health shall be protected from undue consequences in accordance with national
conditions and practice.
Article
14
Measures
shall be taken with a view to promoting in a manner appropriate to national
conditions and practice, the inclusion of questions of occupational safety and
health and the working environment at all levels of education and training,
including higher technical, medical and professional education, in a manner
meeting the training needs of all workers.
Article
15
- 1. With a view to ensuring the
coherence of the policy referred to in Article 4 of this Convention and of
measures for its application, each Member shall, after consultation at the
earliest possible stage with the most representative organisations of
employers and workers, and with other bodies as appropriate, make
arrangements appropriate to national conditions and practice to ensure the
necessary co-ordination between various authorities and bodies called upon
to give effect to Parts II and III of this Convention.
- 2. Whenever circumstances so
require and national conditions and practice permit, these arrangements
shall include the establishment of a central body.
PART
IV. ACTION AT THE LEVEL OF THE UNDERTAKING
Article
16
- 1. Employers shall be required
to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the workplaces,
machinery, equipment and processes under their control are safe and
without risk to health.
- 2. Employers shall be required
to ensure that, so far as is reasonably practicable, the chemical,
physical and biological substances and agents under their control are
without risk to health when the appropriate measures of protection are
taken.
- 3. Employers shall be required
to provide, where necessary, adequate protective clothing and protective
equipment to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, risk of
accidents or of adverse effects on health.
Article
17
Whenever
two or more undertakings engage in activities simultaneously at one workplace,
they shall collaborate in applying the requirements of this Convention.
Article
18
Employers
shall be required to provide, where necessary, for measures to deal with
emergencies and accidents, including adequate first-aid arrangements.
Article
19
There
shall be arrangements at the level of the undertaking under which--
- (a) workers, in the course of
performing their work, co-operate in the fulfilment by their employer of
the obligations placed upon him;
- (b) representatives of workers
in the undertaking co-operate with the employer in the field of
occupational safety and health;
- (c) representatives of workers
in an undertaking are given adequate information on measures taken by the
employer to secure occupational safety and health and may consult their
representative organisations about such information provided they do not
disclose commercial secrets;
- (d) workers and their
representatives in the undertaking are given appropriate training in
occupational safety and health;
- (e) workers or their
representatives and, as the case may be, their representative
organisations in an undertaking, in accordance with national law and
practice, are enabled to enquire into, and are consulted by the employer
on, all aspects of occupational safety and health associated with their
work; for this purpose technical advisers may, by mutual agreement, be
brought in from outside the undertaking;
- (f) a worker reports forthwith
to his immediate supervisor any situation which he has reasonable
justification to believe presents an imminent and serious danger to his
life or health; until the employer has taken remedial action, if
necessary, the employer cannot require workers to return to a work
situation where there is continuing imminent and serious danger to life or
health.
Article
20
Co-operation
between management and workers and/or their representatives within the
undertaking shall be an essential element of organisational and other measures
taken in pursuance of Articles 16 to 19 of this Convention.
Article
21
Occupational
safety and health measures shall not involve any expenditure for the workers.
PART
V. FINAL PROVISIONS
Article
22
This
Convention does not revise any international labour Conventions or
Recommendations.
Article
23
The
formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the
Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration.
Article
24
- 1. This Convention shall be
binding only upon those Members of the International Labour Organisation
whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.
- 2. It shall come into force
twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two Members
have been registered with the Director-General.
- 3. Thereafter, this Convention
shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the date on which
its ratification has been registered.
Article
25
- 1. A Member which has ratified
this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten years from the
date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act
communicated to the Director-General of the International Labour Office
for registration. Such denunciation shall not take effect until one year
after the date on which it is registered.
- 2. Each Member which has
ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year following the
expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, exercise the right of denunciation provided for in this
Article, will be bound for another period of ten years and, thereafter,
may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years
under the terms provided for in this Article.
Article
26
- 1. The Director-General of the
International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the International
Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and
denunciations communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.
- 2. When notifying the Members
of the Organisation of the registration of the second ratification
communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the
Members of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will
come into force.
Article
27
The
Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations for registration in accordance with
Article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations full particulars of all
ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in accordance with the
provisions of the preceding Articles.
Article
28
At
such times as it may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International
Labour Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working
of this Convention and shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda
of the Conference the question of its revision in whole or in part.
Article
29
- 1. Should the Conference adopt
a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in part, then,
unless the new Convention otherwise provides:
- (a) the ratification by a
Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure involve the
immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions
of Article 25 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have
come into force;
- (b) as from the date when the
new revising Convention comes into force this Convention shall cease to
be open to ratification by the Members.
- 2. This Convention shall in any
case remain in force in its actual form and content for those Members
which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.
Article
30
The
English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally
authoritative.
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