With a third of the population around the world currently living under various forms of lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, millions of workers, including those in health and social care, emergency services, agriculture, food and retail, transport, education, infrastructure and construction work and other public services, continue to work hard to keep society functioning.
The global union movement says workers need official recognition of COVID-19 as an occupational disease. Such recognition would ensure the right to worker representation and occupational safety and health (OSH) rights and the application of agreed measures to reduce risk. These rights include the right to refuse to work under unsafe working conditions. This also ensures employers are responsible and liable and that negligent employers are subject to the application of penalties.
The Council of Global Unions notes the vast majority are doing so without the comprehensive protection required when exposed to a recognized occupational disease caused by a biological agent. This poses a profound risk to workers, their families and the communities in which they live.
“Workers urgently need official recognition of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as an occupational hazard. The government of Argentina and the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) have already recognized COVID-19 as an occupational disease,” said the Council of Global Unions.
“Like any hazard, it is the responsibility of employers to protect their workers from it as far as practicable. That means strict hygiene measures, social distancing, sufficient personal protective equipment of the correct types (with proper program implementation), and testing, tracing and tracking protocols for exposed workers and those they may have come into contact with, particularly when testing becomes more readily available,” said the Council of Global Unions.
“Governments must require reporting and recording of work-related cases and ensure that full medical care as well as compensation schemes are provided for victims of work-related COVID-19 and for their affected families. The inclusion of a rebuttable presumption in the case of COVID-19 infections will mean that the disease is presumed to have arisen out of a worker’s exposure to SARS-CoV-2 at work, unless conclusive evidence to the contrary is provided to the relevant authorities within the legislative and regulatory framework for workers’ compensation. The definition of the workplace includes travel to and from work,” said the Council.
“Providing this type of protection and recognition for workers will be a start towards showing them the respect that they deserve by ensuring that preventative measures are implemented to the fullest extent possible and, if they are unfortunate enough to contract COVID-19 that they have fair access to compensation.
“Protection of workers’ health by prevention of infection should always be the first priority, but workers who do become ill should be focused on recovery, not worrying about whether they will face financial ruin for getting sick from work,” the Council concludes.
Global Unions Want COVID-19 Dubbed Occupational Disease
The global union movement says workers need official recognition of COVID-19 as an occupational disease. Such recognition would ensure the right to worker representation and occupational safety and health (OSH) rights and the application of agreed measures to reduce risk. These rights include the right to refuse to work under unsafe working conditions. This also ensures employers are responsible and liable and that negligent employers are subject to the application of penalties.
The Council of Global Unions notes the vast majority are doing so without the comprehensive protection required when exposed to a recognized occupational disease caused by a biological agent. This poses a profound risk to workers, their families and the communities in which they live.
“Workers urgently need official recognition of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as an occupational hazard. The government of Argentina and the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL) have already recognized COVID-19 as an occupational disease,” said the Council of Global Unions.
“Like any hazard, it is the responsibility of employers to protect their workers from it as far as practicable. That means strict hygiene measures, social distancing, sufficient personal protective equipment of the correct types (with proper program implementation), and testing, tracing and tracking protocols for exposed workers and those they may have come into contact with, particularly when testing becomes more readily available,” said the Council of Global Unions.
“Governments must require reporting and recording of work-related cases and ensure that full medical care as well as compensation schemes are provided for victims of work-related COVID-19 and for their affected families. The inclusion of a rebuttable presumption in the case of COVID-19 infections will mean that the disease is presumed to have arisen out of a worker’s exposure to SARS-CoV-2 at work, unless conclusive evidence to the contrary is provided to the relevant authorities within the legislative and regulatory framework for workers’ compensation. The definition of the workplace includes travel to and from work,” said the Council.
“Providing this type of protection and recognition for workers will be a start towards showing them the respect that they deserve by ensuring that preventative measures are implemented to the fullest extent possible and, if they are unfortunate enough to contract COVID-19 that they have fair access to compensation.
“Protection of workers’ health by prevention of infection should always be the first priority, but workers who do become ill should be focused on recovery, not worrying about whether they will face financial ruin for getting sick from work,” the Council concludes.