Both days to be celebrated on 28 April 2018
This year, the International Labour Organisation is combining the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (SafeDay) and the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) in a joint campaign to improve the safety and health of young workers and end child labour. The joint campaign, which will be celebrated on 28 April 2018, aims to accelerate action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of achieving safe and secure working environments for all workers by 2030 and ending all forms of child labour by 2025.
The ILO has stated that achieving these goals requires a concerted and integrated approach that promotes a culture of prevention on occupational safety health (OSH) benefiting the next generation of the global workforce.
The 541 million young workers (15-24 years old) account for more than 15% of the world’s labour force and suffer up to a 40% higher rate of non-fatal occupational injuries than adult workers older than 25.
Many factors can increase youth vulnerability to OSH risks, such as their physical and psychological stage of development, lack of work experience and lack of training, limited awareness of work-related hazards and a lack of bargaining power that can lead young workers to accept dangerous tasks or jobs with poor working conditions.
The 2018 SafeDay campaign highlights the critical importance of addressing these challenges and improving safety and health for young workers, not only to promote decent youth employment but also to link these efforts to combat hazardous child labour.
