The G20 meeting hosted in Brisbane in November 2014 included a Labour 20 (L20) Summit, which incorporated a discussion of work health and safety issues.

The G20 Statement on Safer and Healthier Workplaces was released by a sub-group of the Taskforce on Employment. Part of the impetus for the Statement was the experience of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh in 2013.

The Statement includes a commitment from G20 members that they will develop robust WHS legal frameworks, and effectively enforce work health and safety compliance, safety management and data collection in their own countries.

The Statement also appeals to member countries to pay attention to their international obligations, including ratifying relevant International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and using UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ILO Tripartite Declaration of Principles concerning Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, and the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises.

It is to be hoped that G20 member countries give appropriate weight to the worthy content of the Statement on Safer and Healthier Workplaces.

Please contact QRMC for more information.