The World Federation of Trade Unions, the militant voice of more than 105 million workers across the globe, reaffirms its commitment to the struggle for safe and healthy working conditions on the occasion of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
According to the latest international data, nearly 3 million workers worldwide lose their lives every year due to work‑related accidents and diseases, while an estimated 395 million non‑fatal occupational accidents occur annually. This means that every day, 8000 work-related deaths are recorded, including 1,000 workers who go to work to earn a living, and never return home alive to their families. The vast majority of these incidents are caused by the lack of adequate health and safety measures in the workplace and could have been prevented. Yet millions of workers continue to work in hazardous conditions and are sacrificed for the sake of profit, as protective measures are often ignored and dismissed as costs that undermine profitability.
The class‑oriented trade union movement expresses its internationalist solidarity with workers around the world who are suffering the criminal consequences of inadequate protective health and safety measures. The WFTU firmly reiterates that health and safety are not privileges, and every worker has the fundamental right to return home unharmed at the end of the working day.
We reiterate our firm demand that governments, employers, and international bodies prioritize workers’ health and safety, enforce strict safety standards, and ensure that all violations are met with full accountability.
The WFTU calls upon class‑oriented trade unions across the world to intensify their struggle for adequate health and safety measures in every aspect of workers’ lives. The trade unions have a key role to play in monitoring and ensuring the implementation of health and safety measures in the workplace, and we demand that trade unions be involved and included in the processes of reporting and investigating work‑related accidents and the exemplary punishment of those responsible.
