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

Why you need to know about tailings dams

13 February 2019 at 15:16

No one ever hears about tailings dams until they go wrong. But when they fail, the results can be catastrophic. So, as their numbers increase, what exactly are tailings dams and why should we be worried?

Zambia: Three mineworkers die in underground fire

12 February 2019 at 10:05

Three mineworkers died on 8 February when a loader caught fire underground at Mopani Copper Mine’s Mindola North Shaft in Kitwe, Zambia. Another worker, who survived the fire, is being treated for burns.

5 reasons to join a union

1 February 2019 at 18:59

There’s never been a more important time to join a union. As 26 billionaires own as many assets as the poorest 50 per cent of the world’s population, ordinary people are finding it harder to make ends meet. Trade unions fight for working people so they get a fairer share of profits, that in turn leads to a healthy economy and stable society. So what do they offer?

Vale must be held accountable for Brazilian dam disaster

28 January 2019 at 16:43

Vale must be held accountable, say global unions IndustriALL and Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) as hundreds are feared to have died as a result of a dam collapse at Brumadinho in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on 25 January.

Many dead in Afghanistan mine collapse

8 January 2019 at 10:40

At least thirty people were killed, and several injured, when a mine collapsed in the northern parts of Afghanistan on 6 January.

Global Diamond Network demands better conditions in the supply chain

3 January 2019 at 14:29

The IndustriALL Global Union Diamond Network meeting 19-21 December in Johannesburg, South Africa, attended by 25 delegates from Belgium, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, India, South Africa and Zimbabwe resolved to improve working conditions in the diamond supply chain.

New Year brings fresh tragedy for Pakistan’s coal miners

3 January 2019 at 13:19

IndustriALL’s campaign for safer mines in Pakistan continues into 2019 as four miners burnt to death and another miner was seriously injured in a methane blast at a coal mine in Baolochistan’s Dukki district on 2 January.

IndustriALL mourns 13 miners killed in Czech Republic

21 December 2018 at 15:27

At least 13 miners have been killed and ten wounded in a methane explosion at the CSM coal mine in Karvina in the Czech Republic on 20 December.

Chemical and pharmaceutical unions build power in India

21 December 2018 at 11:30

Meeting in Mumbai, India on 20 December 2018, IndustriALL Global Union’s Indian affiliates agreed to intensify their union building programme in the booming chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the country.

Lesotho union observes AIDS Day

6 December 2018 at 16:11

One in six adults in Lesotho are living with HIV and AIDS according to UNAIDS. These include young women workers from the textile and garment sector, and unions are taking this up as part of their organizing.

Shell’s hidden shame - Contract workers on the poverty line in Nigeria

5 December 2018 at 13:38

Oscar Tamuno*, a driver for major Shell contractor, Plantgeria, has not had a wage increase in eight years. After paying taxes, pension contributions and union dues, he takes home 94,000 naira a month (US$258) working a 12-hour day, six days a week. And yet, Oscar is better off than many of his co-workers.* Not his real name.

Trade unions across the globe show support for Bangladesh Accord

5 December 2018 at 09:59

More than 200 trade union leaders from all corners of the world showed unanimous support for the Bangladesh Accord at IndustriALL Global Union’s Executive Committee meeting in Mexico on 29 and 30 November.

Unions worldwide express support for Goodyear workers in Mexico

30 November 2018 at 15:48

Representatives from Goodyear unions in Germany, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, South Africa and the United States have shown their support for workers fired from the Goodyear plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, and have agreed on joint actions to ensure they are reinstated.

We are just working to die, say Shell workers in Nigeria

27 November 2018 at 15:41

IndustriALL Global Union reveals how Shell contract workers in Nigeria are living in poverty and exposed to dangerous hazards at work in a new video released this week.

Samsung must engage with unions to improve safety

26 November 2018 at 14:14

Samsung Electronics must engage with unions to make safer workplaces, says IndustriALL Global Union after the company recently agreed to pay compensation to hundreds of workers who have contracted life-threatening diseases at its factories in South Korea.

Cement factory death mobilizes Albanian trade unions on safety

23 November 2018 at 14:19

Trade unions in Albania rapidly organized a health and safety seminar on 18 November following the tragic death of a cement factory worker last month and an increase in the number of victims of workplace accidents and diseases in the country.

Bangladesh must keep Accord on Fire and Building Safety

19 November 2018 at 14:49

IndustriALL Global Union strongly urges the government of Bangladesh to petition the High Court to lift a restraining order that seeks to expel the Accord from the country on 30 November.

Shipbreaking - graveyard for ships or workers?

13 November 2018 at 12:00

Two workers have died and seven have been injured in a series of accidents at the Sitakund shipbreaking yard in Bangladesh. 19 people have been killed in Bangladeshi shipbreaking yards this year, the highest number in eight years.

Four workers killed at Neharia underground mine in India

1 November 2018 at 15:23

Four workers were killed and one seriously injured in a mine accident on 25 October 2018 at Western Coalfields Limited’s (WCL) Neharia underground mine in the Pench region, Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh.

IndustriALL investigation uncovers exploitation of Shell workers in Nigeria

24 October 2018 at 10:38

A new report from a fact-finding mission by IndustriALL Global Union has revealed the shocking exploitation of contract workers at Shell oil and gas operations in Nigeria.

Unions stand up to BHP at AGM

18 October 2018 at 17:20

IndustriALL Global Union and affiliates representing BHP workers in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Colombia challenged the mining giant’s unsustainable and dangerous business model, at its annual general meeting in London on 17 October.

Coal mining unions demand Just Transition

15 October 2018 at 18:44

IndustriALL Global Union’s network of coal mining unions met in Delhi, India, to escalate efforts to achieve a ‘Just Transition’ in order to defend coal miners’ interests in the face of challenges from climate change, Industry 4.0 and dangerous working conditions.

Death toll rises to 12 in Indian steel plant blast

10 October 2018 at 17:36

A gas pipeline explosion at the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) Bhilai steel plant in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh on 9 October 2018 has killed 12 workers, while 11 others suffered severe burns.

Global unions condemn anti-union violence in Colombia

5 October 2018 at 13:23

Violence against union leaders has reached dizzying levels in Colombia. The Ombudsman's Office of Colombia recently reported that 343 social leaders and human rights activists have been murdered across the country since the peace agreement was signed in 2016.

Workers in South Africa strike against union bashing at Lanxess mine

3 October 2018 at 15:47

Mineworkers at a Lanxess chrome mine in South Africa are striking against union bashing and strongly condemn the management’s refusal to recognize the union. They are also protesting the company’s denying of organizing rights.