IOSH, the chartered body for health and safety professionals, has called for safer and healthier working environments through a written statement published at the United Nations Economic and Social Council’s High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) in New York
In the statement, IOSH warns that growing evidence suggests the world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, underlining the need for stronger cooperation and greater recognition of the role of OSH in promoting sustainable development. IOSH said achieving the SDGs by 2030 will not be possible without safe, healthy and decent work, and pledged to continue working with governments, UN agencies and partners to make that happen.
IOSH argues that good workplace safety and health practices contribute directly and indirectly to at least 51 SDG targets, outlining how occupational safety and health (OSH) contributes to several goals under review at HLPF 2026.
The statement added that preventing work-related injury, ill health, including psychosocial harm, and fatalities creates conditions in which people can thrive, supporting productivity, organisational performance and long-term economic growth.
10 principles of good OSH
IOSH also highlighted its ‘10 principles of good OSH’, which promote safe and healthy working environments as a fundamental principle and right at work.
Those principles are as follows:
1. Prevention: injury and ill-health at work are preventable
2. Worker rights: workers' safety and health are embedded in rights frameworks and are vital components of sustainable development
3. Accountability: accountability and enforcement create a deterrent against poor safety, health and wellbeing practices at work and help to build sustainable practices
4. Commitment: good occupational safety, health and wellbeing is built upon a combination of leadership, commitment and policy
5. Collaboration: collaborative approaches involving all appropriate stakeholders, including workers and representatives, create more resilient and comprehensive safety, health and wellbeing systems
6. Evidence-driven risk mitigation: risk-led and evidence-driven approaches facilitate proactive, proportionate responses to existing and future occupational safety and health issues
7. Knowledge provision: free and open exchange of trustworthy information creates shared knowledge and understanding of occupational safety, health and wellbeing
8. Learning and improvement: timely, accurate and relevant data can be used to inform action, support learning and make improvements to safety, health and wellbeing
9. Rehabilitation: compensatory, protective and rehabilitative systems protect workers after injury or ill health and support their sustainable return
10. Ethical values: recognising the diversity of occupational safety and health needs and respecting difference ensures more equitable systems that protect all workers
IOSH called on governments and international institutions to place workplace safety at the centre of sustainable development and urged countries to ratify key International Labour Organization conventions, particularly Convention 155 on Occupational Safety and Health and Convention 187 on the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health.
