Safe and healthy working conditions

Mondiaal FNV is committed to health and safety at work. Everyone, anywhere in the world, is entitled to a safe and healthy work environment, whether it involves wearing protective clothing while spraying pesticides, timely detection of explosive substances in shipyards, or maintaining decent working hours in the garment industry. It all boils down to sound agreements and training.

Strategic ambitions

How? 

Mondiaal FNV supports a range of projects: in the garment sector, for example, where working hours are often handled in a - shall we say - creative manner, and women are frequently subjected to sexual harassment. We are also active in the palm-oil plantations of Asia and Latin America, where trade unions are lobbying for protective gear, sanitary facilities, and an OHS team to inspect the health condition of people who enter the plantation.  

In addition, we are facilitating FNV active trade unionists to provide training to shipbreakers in South Asia, who have the most dangerous job in the world, and we train farmers and land labourers in the responsible use of pesticides in the seeds sector in India. Moreover, we support trade unions that fight for safety measures, especially in view of the corona pandemic. 

Lobby 

Health and safety at work has always been part of the International Corporate Social Responsibility (ICSR) covenants. The FNV is often involved in the conclusion of international agreements that promote socially responsible entrepreneurship. Twelve ICSR covenants have been drawn up so far for, among others, the garment and textile sectors, and the ornamental plant, agricultural, and horticultural sectors. In addition, Mondiaal FNV also supports lobbying activities to encourage employers, development banks, and governments to entrench OHS guidelines in their policies.  

Background information 

According to the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu, abbreviated to RIVM), in the Netherlands alone, each year more than two thousand workers have an accident during work, of which around sixty are fatal. Work can also cause diseases. The FNV trade union federation has calculated that about four thousand work-related deaths occur annually.  

Worldwide, one worker dies every fifteen seconds. Safety in the workplace is no luxury. For the trade union movement, 28 April marks the international day of remembrance for workers who have died or been injured as a result of work-related disease or accidents.