Occupational Safety and Health
Bulgaria renews its commitment to the promotion of occupational safety and health
Bulgaria ratifies the two fundamental Conventions Nos. 155 and 187.
10 April 2024
On 2 April 2024, the Government of Bulgaria deposited with the Director General of the ILO the instruments of ratification of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187).
In depositing the instruments of ratification, H.E. Ambassador Yuri Sterk, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Bulgaria to the UN Office and other International Organisations in Geneva, stated: “Bulgaria has always been a strong supporter of the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and will continue to support all the necessary steps to follow up on the historical achievement reached in June 2022.”
The Director-General of the ILO, Mr. Gilbert F. Houngbo, welcomed the ratifications of those Conventions by Bulgaria. In receiving the instruments of ratification, he declared that: “This move reaffirms Bulgaria’s strong support for ILO values and its normative system. Bulgaria has now ratified all 10 fundamental Conventions and is demonstrating its commitment to protecting the fundamental right to a safe and healthy working environment, and to promoting occupational safety and health in a continuous and sustainable manner, with a view to preventing occupational accidents and diseases. “
Convention No. 155 sets out the basic principles and methodology required for sustained improvements in the management of occupational safety and health. It provides for the adoption of a coherent national occupational safety and health policy, as well as action to be taken by governments, and within enterprises, to promote occupational safety and health and to improve working conditions.
Convention No. 187 calls on member States to take specific measures, in consultation with the social partners, towards the progressive achievement of a safe and healthy working environment through the development of a national policy, a national system and a national programme on occupational safety and health. The Convention also recognizes the importance of developing support mechanisms for a progressive improvement of occupational safety and health conditions in micro-enterprises, in SMEs and in the informal economy.
In June 2022, at its 110th session, the International Labour Conference of the ILO adopted the Resolution on the inclusion of a safe and healthy working environment in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work, which declared Conventions Nos 155 and 187 to be part of the fundamental Conventions.