On 11 October 2023, the Government of Italy deposited with the Director General of the ILO the instruments of ratification of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), and its 2002 Protocol, and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187).
In depositing the ratification instruments, Ambassador Vincenzo Grassi, Permanent Representative of Italy in Geneva, stated: “These conventions, which are the result of significant tripartite efforts, are fully consistent with our national commitment to ensuring that every worker, in our country and beyond our borders, enjoys safe and healthy working conditions, thereby contributing to the overall development of the global society. By ratifying these conventions, Italy reaffirms its dedication to ILO values and to international labour standards and principles. I would like to express Italy’s gratitude to the International Labour Organization for its tireless efforts in promoting social dialogue and in shaping a future where decent work and social justice are a shared achievement. We look forward to the continued cooperation, in the spirit of social dialogue, in the pursuit of safer and healthier workplaces for all.”
The Director-General of the ILO, Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, welcomed the ratifications of those Conventions by Italy. In receiving the instruments of ratification, he declared that: “This move reaffirms Italy’s strong support for ILO values and its normative system. Italy has now ratified all 10 fundamental Conventions and is demonstrating its commitment to protecting the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment, and to promoting occupational safety and health in a continuous and sustainable manner, with a view to preventing occupational accidents and diseases.”
Convention No. 155 sets out the basic principles and methodology required for sustained improvements in the management of occupational safety and health. It provides for the adoption of a coherent national occupational safety and health policy, as well as action to be taken by governments, and within enterprises, to promote occupational safety and health and to improve working conditions.
The 2002 Protocol to Convention No. 155 provides for the establishment and periodic review of the requirements and procedures for the recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases and provides for the publication of the compiled statistics on an annual basis.
Convention No. 187 calls on member States to take specific measures, in consultation with the social partners, towards the progressive achievement of a safe and healthy working environment through the development of a national policy, a national system and a national programme on occupational safety and health. The Convention also recognizes the importance of developing support mechanisms for a progressive improvement of occupational safety and health conditions in micro-enterprises, in SMEs and in the informal economy.
In June 2022, at its 110th session, the International Labour Conference of the ILO adopted the Resolution on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work, which declared Conventions Nos 155 and 187 to be part of the fundamental Conventions.
With the ratification of these three key occupational safety and health instruments, Italy ratified a total of 116 Conventions and 1 Protocol. Italy is the 79th country in the world to have ratified Convention No. 155, the 19th country to have ratified the 2002 Protocol to Convention No. 155, and the 62nd country to have ratified Convention No. 187.
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