World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2022

On 28 April, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the International Labour Organization (ILO) reminds us every year of the importance of protecting workers from health hazards, taking the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases seriously and investing in it.

For more than 100 years, the International Labour Organization (ILO), since 1946 also the first specialised agency of the United Nations (UN), has been dedicated to the development and implementation of international social and labour standards. Its primary goal is to create decent work for all. This also means establishing standards that reduce the number of work-related deaths, illnesses and injuries. Minimise risks, strengthen staff protection, build and promote a safe and healthy working environment. Pulling together for a strong positive safety and health culture at work - this is also the motto of this year's World Day for Safety and Health at Work, which the ILO celebrates every year on 28 April.

Safety and health at work – a relevant topic in the health sector

Healthcare workers are among the occupational groups that experience a higher exposure to risks in the workplace. Daily contact with potentially infectious materials, e.g. when taking blood samples and handling other bodily fluids, poses a particular risk. Skin diseases caused by so-called wet work, such as washing hands too often or wearing gloves for too long or inappropriately, as well as the transmission of infections via needlestick injuries, also pose an everyday risk. Moreover, the Coronavirus pandemic has once again highlighted - not only in the healthcare sector - that a strong OSH system is necessary and crucial for the protection of the working environment and the safety and health of workers [1-6].

Act together to build a positive safety and health culture at work, at all levels for a strong system! Join in and raise awareness for efficient prevention measures. Take care of yourself and your health, actively participate in infection prevention, comply with work standards and demand them if necessary. Engage in dialogue too: Celebrate the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on 28 April!

Important measures for your prevention in the health sector include, among others:

- Consistent hand hygiene at the right time: 5 moments of hand hygiene
- Compliance with standard hygiene: Elements of standard hygiene
- Surface hygiene: Handling alcohol-based surface disinfectants
- Personal protective equipment: Avoiding contamination of your protective clothing/correct handling of PPE
- Working with SOPs and guidelines: e.g. dealing with needlestick injuries
- Regular training and observation

You may find further useful information in our Hygiene Measures section: Hygiene measures, also specifically for emergency services: emergency services (hartmann.info).

Click here to see the ILO’s campaign: World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2022: Act together to build a positive safety and health culture (ilo.org)

Sources:

1. Eggert S. et al. Erfahrung mit Hygiene in ambulanten Pflegediensten. Quantitative Befragung in der ambulanten Pflege. Zentrum für Qualität in der Pflege (ZQP) Juni 2016.

2. Dulon M.et al. MRSA carriage among healthcare workers in non-outbreak settings in Europe and the United States: a systematic review. BMC Infectious Diseases 2014; 14:363.

3. Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege. BGW-Themen. Risiko Nadelstich Infektionen wirksam vorbeugen. Stand 06/2016.

4. Soltanipoor et al. The effectiveness of a skin care program for the prevention of contact dermatitis in health care workers (the Healthy Hands Project): study protocol for a cluster. Trials. 2017 Feb 28;18 (1):92.

5. Händehygiene in Einrichtungen des Gesundheitswesens. Empfehlung der Kommission für Krankenhaushygiene und Infektionsprävention (KRINKO) beim Robert Koch-Institut (RKI), Bundesgesundheitsbl 2016, 59:1189-1220.

6. https://www.un.org/en/observances/work-safety-day (letzter Aufruf: 11.03.2022)