The MOU states that ASSE and the ILO will work together towards the common objective of preventing illness and injuries in the workplace across all industry sectors through advocacy, promoting awareness, knowledge development information dissemination and the application of relevant standards and industry best practices in the community and workplace.
The agreement was signed during the ASSE Professional Development Conference and Exposition in San Antonio.
“As there are no global marketplace boundaries today and with a large number of our 32,000 occupational safety, health and environmental professional members continuing to work in countries and projects around the world, this agreement will help us move forward in preventing injuries and illnesses worldwide,” ASSE President Warren K. Brown said. “This agreement also reflects the value of the [safety, health and environmental] profession and ASSE’s growth.”
ASSE is committed to protecting people, property and the environment. ILO’s workplace principles include: freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; effective abolition of child labor; and elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation; as well as the human rights, environment and anti-corruption related principles of the United Nations’ Global Compact.
“We look forward to working with ASSE. Sound occupational safety and health programs that implement best strategies are the grease for the machinery of powerful economic engines. Without the information we provide through these workplace safety and health programs no employer can survive because accidents and disease are not simply expensive but wasteful,” ILO’s Coordinator of the 5th Edition of the ILO encyclopedia of Occupational Safety and Health Ilise L. Feitshans said. “We will be helping workers and employers by providing a network of experts and fostering knowledge sharing. This sharing will include information on international standards, national legislation, technical guidance, methodologies, accident and disease statistics, best practices, educational and training tools, research and, hazard and risk assessment data.”