Similar to construction, mining and shipbuilding, ship recycling is a sector that includes many dangerous situations for its workers. This includes health risks derived from the exposure of workers and local communities to hazardous materials during ship recycling can pose serious health risks, including from substances like asbestos, lead, and mercury.
Common hazards that are likely to cause work-related injuries and death, ill health, diseases and incidents among shipbreaking workers (adapted from Hossain et al, 2016).
Category of hazards
Examples of hazards
Serious accident hazards
Fire and explosion: explosives, flammable materials.Being struck by falling objects.Caught in or compressed.Snapping of cables, ropes, chains, slings.Handling heavy objects; Access in progressively dismantled vessels (floors, stairs, passageways).Falls from height inside ship structures or on the ground.Struck by moving objects.Slipping on wet surfaces.Sharp objects.Oxygen deficiency in confined spaces. Lack of PPE, housekeeping practices, safety signs.
Physical hazards
Noise.
Extreme temperatures.
Vibration.
Poor illumination.
Mechanical hazards
Trucks and transport vehicles.Scaffolding, fixed and portable ladders.Impact by tools, sharp-edged tools.Power-driven hand tools, saws, grinders and abrasive cutting wheels.Shackles, hooks; chains.Cranes, winches, hoisting & hauling equipment.Lack of safety guards in machines.Poor maintenance of machinery and equipment.
Biological hazards
Toxic marine organisms.Risk of communicable diseases transmitted by pests, vermin, rodents, insects and other animals that may infest the ship.Animal bites.Infectious diseases (TB, malaria, dengue fever, hepatitis, respiratory infections, others).
Ergonomic and psychological hazards
Repetitive strain injuries, awkward postures, repetitive and monotonous work, excessive workload.Long working hours, shift work, night work, temporary employment.Mental stress, human relations (behaviour, alcohol and drug abuse, violence).Poverty, low wages, minimum age, lack of education and social environment, migrant labour excluded from social security.
Therefore, operational safety and health (OSH) of the workforce should be at the centre of all considerations in the ship recycling industry. Risk assessment and planning, training of workers on different aspects and situations, adequate personal protection equipment, etc. are key aspects that need to an intrinsic part of the industry.
Guidelines of the International Labour Organization
In 2004, the 289th session of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a set of guidelines entitled “Safety and health in shipbreaking: Guidelines for Asian countries and Turkey”. These guidelines are designed to assist shipbreakers and competent authorities to implement the relevant provisions of ILO standards, codes of practice and other guidelines on occupational safety and health and working conditions. The ILO Guidelines provide assistance to ensure safe work in shipbreaking within the framework of the ILO’s Decent Work Agenda. In so doing they provide advice on the transformation of a mainly informal economy activity into a more formal organized one.
The guidelines are designed to assist shipbreakers and competent authorities alike to implement the relevant provisions of ILO standards, codes of practice and other guidelines on occupational safety and health and working conditions, and the provisions of instruments of other relevant international organizations, aiming at progressive improvement. The practical recommendations in these guidelines are for use by all those who are responsible for occupational safety and health in shipbreaking operations. The guidelines are not legally binding, nor are they intended to replace national laws, regulations or accepted standards. They provide guidance to those engaged in the framing of relevant provisions and the setting up of effective national systems, procedures and enterprise regulations, where they do not exist.
In addition to the Guidelines, the ILO Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) is the main international instrument dealing with the safe use of chemicals in the workplace. It was adopted by ILO in 1990 and entered into force in 1993. As of April 2024, it has been ratified by 24 countries.
The convention provides a framework for the sound management of all types of chemicals used at work. It covers the classification, labelling, and use of safety data sheets for chemicals. Employers must ensure workers are not exposed to chemicals beyond legal limits and carefully monitor and record exposure times. Workers have the right to information, training, and to refuse work with chemicals if there is reasonable justification of an imminent and serious risk to their health and safety. The convention states that the most representative organizations of employers and workers must be consulted on measures to ensure the safe use of chemicals.
The Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) represents a very important milestone for promoting a holistic approach to national governance of OSH, one that is policy oriented and focused on prevention. It introduced the principles of a national policy in relation to OSH, emphasizing the need to consider OSH as a matter of national concern. In addition to comprehensively regulating substantive aspects of a national policy on OSH, Convention No. 155 also defines the actions required at the national and enterprise level.
The Promotional Framework for Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) was adopted, aiming at promoting a national preventative safety and health culture and progressively achieving a safe and healthy working environment. Convention No. 187 calls for the establishment of a national framework for continuous improvement in the field of OSH, emphasising the interdependence and interactive nature of its different components (i.e., national OSH policy, a national OSH system and a national OSH programme). Convention No. 187 is the first OSH Convention to apply a new integrated approach to ILO standards related activities so as to increase their coherence, relevance and impact. It is designed as an overarching instrument with promotional rather than prescriptive content, providing flexibility so that the approach could suit all Members, regardless of their level of development on OSH or their level of resources.
Convention No. 187 requires Members to promote continuous improvement of occupational safety and health to prevent occupational injuries, diseases and deaths, by the development, in consultation with the most representative organizations of employers and workers, of a national policy, a national system and a national programme. The Convention calls for the establishment of a national preventative safety and health culture, where the principle of prevention is accorded the highest priority. Both fundamental Conventions describe a framework with complementary roles of governments, employers and workers in improving safety and health at work. They emphasize the importance of participation of employers and workers, through express provisions on consultation and cooperation in decision-making and implementation processes. In particular, consultation with the most representative organisations of employers and workers is required to develop, implement and review the national OSH policy, the national OSH system and the national OSH programme. At the workplace level, both Conventions Nos 155 and 187 highlight cooperation between management, workers and their representatives as an essential element of OSH measures. Convention No. 155 also provides for consultation on OSH of workers or their representatives