Nearly 30 lakh workers die every year globally due to work-related accidents and diseases, according to a new report prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO). More than 63% of these deaths are reported from the Asia-Pacific region.
Exposure to long working hours (55 hours or more per week) was the biggest “killer”, with almost 7.45 lakh people dying of it in 2016, followed by exposure to occupational particulate matter, gases, and fumes (4.5 lakh deaths) and occupational injuries (3.63 lakh deaths).
The report, titled ‘A Call for Safer and Healthier Working Environments’, will be discussed at the 23rd World Congress on Safety and Health at Work, one of the largest international conferences on this subject, which began in Sydney on November 27. Citing the data on the fatal occupational injury rate, the report said mining and quarrying, construction, and utilities sectors were the three most hazardous sectors globally.
