Occupational Health and Safety

The HLCM Occupational Health and Safety Forum is a UN-system wide forum established by HLCM at its 38th session in October 2019.

The Forum is chaired by WHO and composed of experts nominated by the HLCM members. It serves as a multidisciplinary UN-system wide technical body, and is intended to support agency heads fulfilling their duty of care for staff safety and well-being in a manner which evolves in parallel with the risks and the contexts in which their organizations work.

The Forum builds on the work conducted in the course of several years by the HLCM Cross-functional Task Force on Duty of Care.

Source: UNSCEB page on OHS

Deliverables:

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is of fundamental importance to all staff and non-staff personnel wherever they operate. It engages organizations to identify and manage risks to staff and non-staff personnel associated with the commitment to “stay and deliver”. The Task Force presented the following vision statement, encompassing OSH aspirational goals:

“The United Nations, in fulfilling its organizational mandates, aims to provide a healthy, safe and respectful working environment that promotes greater accountability, efficiency and commitment of its workforce.”

PRINCIPLES:

  1. Risk awareness and transparency - Organizations are proactive in providing information and are open to engagement, input and feedback from UN personnel.
  2. Effective occupational safety, health and security management - Shared engagement and responsibility of the Organization and its workforce to promote and sustain safety, security, health and well-being of staff and non-staff personnel as far as it is reasonably practicable.
  3. Inclusion and respect for dignity - Organizations treat staff and non-staff personnel in good faith, with due consideration for individual circumstances, respecting and preserving dignity and diversity.
  4. Caring for consequences of risk - Caring for those who have been adversely affected or impacted by hazardous events associated with their work with the United Nations.
  5. Accountability at all levels - Creating a just culture that supports effective leadership and individual accountability.

Source: UNSCEB page on OHS deliverables

OHS Forum - Fourth Activity / Progress Report

The purpose of this document is to provide the HLCM with an update of the activities of the OHS Forum since its 43rd session in April 2022. The OHS Forum met twice on 3 June and on 30August 2022, and the workstreams continued to meet on a regular basis in order to work on their deliverables.

OHS Forum - Annexes to Progress Report

Includes Concept Note on Global OHS Repository, Taxonomy of OHS standards, Process for collecting, vetting and developing OHS standards applicable to the UN system, OHS Incident Management Guideline, OHS Framework of Accountability for Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams, Impact of Covid-19 on Mental Health and Well-being of UN Personnel: Recommendations, implementable actions and good practices, and, 2018-2023 UN System Workplace Mental Health and Well-being Strategy + 2024 and beyond - Progress Report.

UN CEB page on OHS

UN CEB page on OHS deliverables

Disclaimer: This collection of resources is provided as-is by FICSA member staff associations, or with permission from the originating organization, as reference for other FICSA members in their Staff/Management relations and consultation. It should not be used as an authoritative source, and it may not be the most up-to-date. Please contact the organization directly or refer to the organization's website if you need the most recent version of the policy.

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