Workplace deaths – a background.
Information on global workplace fatalities is not reported or collected in a standardised fashion. Formed in 1919 the International Labour Organisation (“ILO”) is an agency of the United Nations and attempts to bring together governments, employers and workers from 187 member states. The ILO maintains statistics on workplace injuries and fatalities but recognises that in many countries workplace accidents and deaths are significantly under-reported. In joint research between the ILO and a couple of Finnish universities it was estimated that in 1998 there were 350,000 workplace deaths across the world. This research found that Morocco was the most dangerous country to work in as it recorded 48 deaths per 100,000 workers. In more contemporary research the ILO found that in 2015 there were 38 deaths per 100,000 workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
