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Health and safety

IndustriAll demands strong international health and safety standards and empowering workers' rights to:
  -  know about hazards;
  -  refuse or stop unsafe work; and
  -  participate in health and safety decision making.
Workers' rights, employers' responsibilities, and good laws, equal healthy and safe workplaces!

Contact person:

Brian Kohler
email: [email protected]
Tel. +41 22 304 18 49
Fax: +41 22 304 1841

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Timeline

April 28 - International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers

Text of the Agreement with ArcelorMittal on OHS

One dead and seven injured at Bokaro steel plant, India

26 May 2020 at 10:09

Four accidents in two weeks at Bokaro steel plant expose the poor safety measures at Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the leading public sector steel maker in India.

New cases of Covid-19 in Peru’s mines

13 May 2020 at 14:56

As operations in Peru’s mines continue despite a state of emergency, the National Miners’ and Metalworkers’ Union (FNTMMSP) says 252 miners have contracted the disease and one has died.

Series of industrial accidents rocks India as work resumes post-lockdown

8 May 2020 at 18:16

A toxic gas leak at LG Polymers India, a subsidiary of South Korean multinational LG Chem, resulted in the death of twelve people, including two children, with hundreds hospitalized.

Bangladeshi government must protect workers from impacts of Covid-19

4 May 2020 at 09:12

IndustriALL is calling on the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to immediately address the impact of Covid-19 on workers, and consult unions including IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC) on the way forward.

Brazil: collective agreements in response to Covid-19

4 May 2020 at 07:29

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, unions in Brazil have negotiated agreements that set out alternative solutions protecting workers' lives and rights.

Accidents continue at Bangladesh shipbreaking yards

1 May 2020 at 14:53

A worker was critically injured at the Tahsin Steel shipbreaking yard, Chittagong, on 28 April, International Workers Memorial Day. This year alone, at least six workers have been killed at Bangladesh shipbreaking yards.

Join IndustriALL webinar on 28 April

23 April 2020 at 15:55

IndustriALL webinar on Covid-19: Advice for Workers and Employers

Saving ourselves

23 April 2020 at 12:36

IndustriALL’s manual for health and safety activists is a resource for union health and safety activists, particularly those who are just starting out. The manual, written by IndustriALL’s health and safety director Brian Kohler, provides an overview of basic structures and programmes that workers need to understand when fighting for safer and healthier workplaces.

Brazil closes 47 unsafe mining dams

16 April 2020 at 10:40

Brazil has ordered the immediate closure of 47 tailings dams as their stability could not be certified. More than half of the mines belong to Vale, the company responsible for the country's worst ever environmental and human disaster.

The right to refuse

8 April 2020 at 17:16

IndustriALL Global Union's publication on the right to refuse or to shut down unsafe work.

Massive crisis for Bangladesh’ garment workers

8 April 2020 at 13:47

Thousands of workers in Bangladesh’ garment industry have lost their jobs and are denied wages as the country is under lockdown until 14 April. On 6 April, two workers were killed in an accident during protests.

Argentinian union condemns LafargeHolcim for exposing workers to COVID-19

2 April 2020 at 12:33

According to IndustriALL affiliate Asociación Obrera Minera Argentina (AOMA) Holcim (of the LafargeHolcim group) is demanding that employees continue work as normal, in violation of the emergency decrees adopted by the Argentinian government to protect against the corona virus.

COVID-19 - an existential crisis for the garment industry

23 March 2020 at 16:10

As retailers close shops around the world, garment factories are shutting down at an alarming rate with devastating impacts for garment workers.

Peru’s government puts economic interests before miners’ safety

23 March 2020 at 10:19

Even though Peru’s government has introduced a curfew and state of emergency, mineworkers still have to go to work without any virus-protection measures. 

Tyre workers sent home as Covid-19 closes factories

20 March 2020 at 16:18

With major halts in auto production, the tyre industry is largely reducing work. Temporary plant closures are announced by market leading tyre companies who employ thousands of IndustriALL members.

Union educates on COVID-19 as South Africa confirms more cases

19 March 2020 at 13:43

IndustriALL Global Union affiliate, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU), is carrying out campaigns to educate workers about the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the textile, garment, leather and shoe factories, and other workplaces where the union organizes.

Union picket breaks deadlock in Malaysia

17 March 2020 at 12:27

A one-day picket of Electronics Industry Employees’ Union Northern Region (EIEUNR) forced Infineon Technologies (Kulim) Sdn Bhd to return to the negotiation table to continue bargaining for a collective agreement. The employer had declared a deadlock in the negotiations on 25 February.

Indian Saint-Gobain worker dismissed for occupational illness

17 March 2020 at 09:30

A former Saint-Gobain Crystals and Detectors worker in Bangalore, India, Jayaraj Mathangi, was fired for abstenteeism after developing severe health problems due to hazards he was exposed to at work.

Strengthening health and safety in Myanmar’s mines

16 March 2020 at 09:45

Health and safety is a constant worry among miners in Myanmar. Mining Workers Federation of Myanmar (MWFM), the IndustriALL Global Union affiliate representing 7,500 miners in the country, is calling on the government and employers to improve health and safety, like ensuring emergency exits, clean drinking water and fire extinguishers at the worksites.

Workers in Cambodia and Myanmar hit hard by Coronavirus fall-out

12 March 2020 at 14:30

The global outbreak of the Coronavirus is slowing down the economy and eliminating thousands of jobs in the global supply chain in South East Asia. Cambodia and Myanmar are among the most affected countries in the region.

South Africa: 378 trapped mineworkers safely rescued

11 March 2020 at 14:44

378 mineworkers were rescued on 10 March after being trapped underground for nine hours. The workers were trapped when a UV 72 machine used to transport workers and materials underground caught fire at Sibanye Stillwater Simunye Shaft in Rustenburg.

Marble quarry accident highlights ongoing slaughter in Pakistan mines

26 February 2020 at 12:13

At least ten people were killed and 30 were trapped after a rock slide at a marble quarry in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on 22 February. The horrific accident highlights the ongoing slaughter in Pakistan’s mines, which kill 200 workers each year.

Mexico must ratify ILO C176

18 February 2020 at 10:17

On 19 February 2006, 65 workers died following a methane gas explosion at the Grupo Mexico mine in Pasta de Conchos, Mexico. Only two bodies were recovered before the company sealed the mine. As the 14th anniversary of the mining tragedy approaches, IndustriALL is calling on the Mexican government to ratify ILO Convention 176 on Safety and Health in Mines.

Bangladesh' shipbreaking yards continue to claim lives

17 February 2020 at 12:00

Bangladesh is the top shipbreaking country in the world, but the industry’s dangerous working conditions have left two workers dead and more injured in the first weeks of February.

Pakistan mine safety crisis continues

30 January 2020 at 10:40

The start of 2020 has seen increasing accidents and deaths in Pakistan’s coal mines, exposing the near non-existence of safety measures and continued negligence from the employers and the government.

©2020 – industriALL