Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Manual 3:HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTFOR WORKER HS&E REPRESENTATIVESCollectivebargainingILOConventionson safety andhealth inagricultureRiskassessmentsand riskmanagementYour union can use collective bargaining to overcome some of thelimitations in your country’s health and safety legislation. Often thebargaining process can bring about improvements in the workplace muchmore quickly than waiting for national legislation to change. In manycountries, Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA’s) can be enforced inthe courts or through tribunals because they have legal status through: the relationship between the trade union and the employer the incorporation of the contents of the CBA into the individualcontracts of workersThere are many HS&E topics that your union can promote throughnegotiations and then add to existing contract language. (See theCollective Bargaining Agreements sub section below).The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is a part of the United Nations(UN) system. The ILO produces many international labour standardsrelating to HS&E. The most important of these for agricultural workers isConvention No. 184 on Safety and Health in Agriculture 2001 (seeManual 6 for full details). There are numerous articles in this Conventionthat will help agricultural workers and their unions. For example:workers in agriculture have the right to select safety and healthrepresentatives and representatives in safety and health committeesworkers have the right to “remove themselves from danger resultingfrom their work activity when they have reasonable justification tobelieve there is an imminent and serious risk to their safety and healthand so inform their supervisor immediately. They shall not be placed atany disadvantage as a result of these actions”employers have to carry out workplace risk assessments on the farm,plantation, or agricultural undertaking before exposing workers to thehazards/risks covered by the Convention, including exposure tochemicals. We will now consider the concept of risk assessment in moredetail because it has the potential to help agricultural workers and theirunions.In ILO Convention No. 184, there are clear responsibilities placed uponemployers to identify hazards, evaluate risks, and implement preventiveand protective measures. It is important that worker HS&E representativesunderstand the process of risk assessments, so that they can make avaluable contribution to the process.ILO Convention No. 184 on Safety and Health in Agriculture: Article 7The employer shall carry out appropriate risk assessments and adopt preventive andprotective measures to ensure that under all conditions of theirintended use, all agricultural activities, workplaces, machinery,equipment, chemicals, tools and processes are safe106 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers