Sustainable development goal eight

An OSH management system (OSHMS) is simply the umbrella term for an organisation’s efforts to manage OSH effectively.

It covers all effort to prevent work-related injury and ill-health (covering both physical and mental health), to remove hazards, and to minimise OSH risks. It includes policies, management processes, procedures, performance measurement tools, reporting mechanisms, planning and project management processes, training provision, risk assessment and incident investigation.

The word ‘system’ should not be confused with a computer system or a digital application. In this context, the system is a documented collection of policies, processes, and procedures. Other business functions might also incorporate OSH elements into their processes (for example including safety and health clauses in procurement contracts or worker recruitment processes). These activities also form part of an OSHMS.

An OSHMS is a valuable part of an organisation’s governance. A strong system helps formalise the sustainable and inclusive protection of workers.

An effective OSHMS contributes to the delivery of the following SDG targets:

• 1.3 implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all
• 8.2 achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation
• 10.3 ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome
• 12.6 adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle
• 12.7 public procurement practices that are sustainable
• 16.6 effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels
• 17.10 promote a universal, rules-based, open, non‑discriminatory, and equitable multilateral trading system.

An OSHMS refers to the dynamic, varied, and coordinated set of components that enact an organisation’s commitment to safety and health. These efforts extend beyond the direct and immediate response to OSH risks and hazards to include structural, administrative, and governance arrangements. These enhanced efforts, be it in the shape of clear OSH performance reporting or the mandatory incorporation of OSH considerations in procurement processes, can make a valuable contribution to businesses’ broader sustainability efforts.

The importance of a management system as part of good occupational safety and health provision is recognised by its inclusion in IOSH’s competency framework.

Governance is the system by which an organisation is directed and controlled. OSH governance is a facet of the organisation’s wider governance arrangements. It builds a socially sustainable structure in an organisation – one that helps ensure the long-term safety, health, and wellbeing of workers.

OSH performance measurement plays a key role in showing how systems are working in practice to inform governance. Performance evaluation involves analysing and evaluating the data from monitoring and measurement, and deciding whether any OSH activity is achieving the desired effect. Data from monitoring can be used to identify problems, inform improvements, and to make people accountable. If OSH performance management and governance are carried out with the aim of continuous learning and improvement, they help build transparency and integrity in businesses practice.

Performance management and governance contribute to the delivery of the following SDG targets:

• 1.3 implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all
• 8.2 achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation
• 16.6 effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels
• 17.10 promote a universal, rules-based, open, non‑discriminatory, and equitable multilateral trading system.

Transparency and accountability are cornerstones of sustainable business development. So too are the values of disclosure, learning, and improvement. In order for meaningful progress towards the SDGs to take place, the importance of realistic performance measurement and reporting cannot be overstated. Businesses will play a part in this by faithfully disclosing information concerning the impacts their activities have on people and the planet. Information relating to the treatment of workers – both intentional and unintentional – will contribute to this.

For more information on OSH performance management and governance, search for the following guides on our website: Introduction to performance management and Introduction to OSH governance.

The importance of performance management and governance as part of good occupational safety and health provision is recognised by its inclusion in IOSH’s competency framework.

Vulnerable workers are those who are at a higher risk of sustaining an injury, illness, or fatality at work due to certain circumstances or conditions.

The definition also includes workers who are at risk of having their workplace rights denied, or who lack the ability to secure them. Vulnerable workers can include workers with disabilities, young people, pregnant workers and new mothers migrant workers, older workers, gig workers and others in the informal economy.

OSH law requires employers to manage the risks to vulnerable workers, and other regulations, such as equality laws, mandate making sure they have the same access to work and protections as other workers.

Given the inequities that exist in the world of work, inclusive approaches to protecting all workers can play a prominent role in delivering one of the SDGs of ensuring decent work for workers globally.

The management of vulnerable workers contributes to the delivery of the following SDG targets:

• 1.3 implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all
• 8.5 full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities
• 8.7 eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery, human trafficking and…child labour
• 8.8 protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment
• 9.2 promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization
• 9.4 upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.

Proactive and comprehensive OSH management practices should help to identify the specific vulnerabilities of workers, be they based on factors such as gender, physical (dis)ability, ethnicity, and so on. In response, the steps taken to protect and promote the safety and health of those workers should account for their unique needs. And given that a safe and health working environment is enshrined as a fundamental principle and right at work, it is incumbent upon businesses to ensure that the most vulnerable workers involved in their activities are suitably cared for. This responsibility will increasingly extend to workers engaged via supply chain arrangements.

The importance of supporting vulnerable workers as part of good occupational safety and health provision is recognised by its inclusion in IOSH’s competency framework.

Ethical business practices are adopted by organisations to uphold moral values and to meet the expectations of customers, workers, suppliers, investors and society in general.

Ethical values include fairness, honesty, integrity, responsibility, transparency, and accountability.

The management of the occupational safety, health, and wellbeing of workers is a fundamental part of ethical business practice, not least because it fulfils the duty to treat workers fairly and protect them. The International Labour Organization’s 2022 resolution to include ‘a safe and healthy working environment’ as a fundamental principle and right at work reinforces the ethical importance of OSH by moving worker protection from the labour rights to the human rights arena.

Ethical business practices contribute to the delivery of the following SDG targets:

• 8.5 full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities
• 8.7 eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour
• 8.8 protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment
• 9.2 promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization
• 9.4 upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes.

OSH as a principle, a practice, and a profession has ethical foundations in the sense that the ultimate aim of protecting all workers is supportive of a universal social good. Not only is OSH ethical by premise, but its very processes – identifying risks to workers, including workers in changes that may affect their safety and health, acting in good faith to learn from safety and health incidents – are also driven by ethical values such as equality, fairness, and integrity.

The importance of ethical business practices as part of good occupational safety and health provision is recognised by its inclusion in IOSH’s competency framework.

OSH legislation comprises laws to set minimum standards for protecting workers’ safety and health.

In some countries, legislation and enforcement are more mature than in others. All countries are required by the International Labour Organization’s occupational safety and health Convention 155 to have national occupational health and safety policies. Governments and businesses must promote OSH and improve working conditions to reduce exposure to hazards that can cause accidents and ill health.

Workers’ health has a powerful influence on productivity. Health problems can lead to discrimination against workers and cost governments and enterprises. A vicious circle of poor health, reduced working capacity, low productivity and shortened life expectancy is a typical outcome where there is no social intervention to reduce the underlying problems of irregular and low-quality employment, low pay and the lack of social protection. International organisations can help to promote health and safety at work, especially in countries with developing regulatory and enforcement structures. The most effective measures are often those that actively involve workers’ and employers’ organisations.

Complying with OSH legislation contributes to the delivery of the following SDG targets:

• 1.3 implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all
• 3.3 end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases
• 3.4 reduce…non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and wellbeing
• 3.5 strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol.
• 3.6 halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents
• 3.9 substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination
• 3d strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks
• 6.1 access to safe…drinking water
• 6.2 access to adequate…sanitation and hygiene
• 8.2 achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation
• 8.5 full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities
• 8.7 eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery, human trafficking and child labour
• 8.8 protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment.

OSH legislation provides a formal framework for the realisation of labour rights related to working conditions, workplace entitlements, employment arrangements, and broad social protections. Notwithstanding the fact that the scope, ambition, and effectiveness of legislation varies between countries, OSH laws set a minimum standard for businesses to comply with. Where legislation is mature and appropriately reflects the modern context of work and the OSH risks within it, businesses’ compliance can help maintain and improve work for all.

The importance of a health and safety legislation as part of good occupational safety and health provision is recognised by its inclusion in IOSH’s competency framework.