WHO WE WORK WITH

International Labour Organization (ILO) and International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (ICEM)

Great Wall - ChinaICMM has worked with the the United Nation's International Labour Organization (ILO), and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (ICEM) on issues of child labour and safety in the work place.

As part of their support for World Day against Child Labour in 2004, ICMM joined with ICEM in supporting a campaign to stop child labour in mining.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) launched a campaign, “A Call to Action” on the same day to encourage governments, workers, companies and civil society to work together to bring an end to child labour in the sector.

The agreement states, "Leaders in the industry believe that this practice can and should be stopped. They join the ILO in its call to action addressed to those principally responsible: national governments and artisanal and small scale mining organizations, requesting that they take all steps necessary to stop child labour in mining.

"... We, the International Council on Mining and Metals [ICMM] representing employers and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers, representing trade unions support the ILO in its initiative to eliminate child labour from any mining or quarrying activity."

In 2006, ILO, ICEM and ICMM approached their counterparts in the Chinese coal mining industry with a view to collaborating in a joint project to improve mine safety and health.

Together, the three organizations proposed that a co-ordinated, well-established and fully accepted risk assessment and risk management approach to mine occupational safety and health would underpin immediate and sustained improvements in safety and health performance.

This three-year project was designed to put in place the sustained use of risk assessment techniques. The project strategy was to capitalize on existing groundwork and increase the capacity of the national partners at all levels and in all branches of the coal mining sector to provide training in the knowledge, appreciation and implementation of risk assessment and risk management techniques to mine safety and health. Current good practice in the mining industry was the basis of training.

Since 2004, ICMM and its partners have met with government officials in Beijing to discuss a joint mine safety project. The initiative aims to assist the Chinese government to implement a safety culture in the Chinese mining industry by sharing technical expertise and examples of good practice. Chinese officials attended the ICMM Safety and Health Conference in South Africa in November 2006.

The long-term objective of the project is to ensure a significant and sustained reduction in the frequency and severity of accidents, injuries and incidents in Chinese coal mines through a modern approach to risk assessment and risk management. As a result, there will also be a sustained improvement in the occupational health of all mineworkers.

Who we work with

AT A GLANCE

ICMM has workd with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Union (ICEM) in opposing child labour in mining, and in seeking to improve safety in Chinese coal mining.

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Health Risk Assessment Guidance for Metals (HERAG)
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RELATED LINKS

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

Principle 05:

Seek continual improvement of our health and safety performance

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