Declaration

GLOBAL INDUSTRY COMMITMENT TO WORKPLACE SAFETY

We are:

  • Acknowledging that safety is a fundamental component of quality of human life, a value to be upheld by individuals and organizations,
  • Concerned that any lack of safety in the workplace and in the home carries with it a personal and social cost to individuals, families, organizations, communities and ultimately nations and their security and standard of living,
  • Determined to address this vulnerability at the individual level and within our larger organizations and communities,
  • Affirming our ability to affect real-world change to achieve an attainable goal of increased safety and injury reduction,

Have agreed at the World Safety Declaration Reception on March 15, 2006 in Washington, DC:

1. "Personal safety" as a human value transcends differences of geography, political affiliation, citizenship, ethnicity, religious affiliation, occupation, age and gender. Personal safety is a universal construct that can be supported in unique organizational and interpersonal ways.

2. Individuals and organizations have the right and a moral obligation to make a commitment to the improvement of safety conditions in their lives, in their communities and in their organizations. They can improve the quality of their own lives, and the lives of those who participate in larger social contexts (occupational, local, regional, national, geographic) with a commitment to improve safety.

3. The enhancement of safety in the workplace and in the home is an achievable objective that can be defined, evaluated and measured, despite differences of environment and setting.

4. The global nature of workplace and home safety calls for the broadest possible cooperation by all of industry.

5. The organizations signing this declaration, through its appropriate representative, today commit to reporting their challenges, progress and successes at the XVIIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in 2008.