Global rights: the focus on working conditions in the world and the responsibilities of digital platforms: there are more than six thousand victims every day

ROME – Pandemic crisis, climate crisis, economic and social crisis. Already intertwined and interdependent, today they are aggravated by the worsening of the geopolitical balance and of the global order, which gives rise to further and new problems: that of energy, global supply, that of food and inflation. And again: the risk of recession and the debt crisis, the deterioration of democratic systems, the rule of law in many places in the world and human rights in general. It is now a crisis system. The report, now in its twentieth edition, is edited by theOnlus Information Company Association and sees the adhesion of many realities engaged in various capacities on the major themes dealt with in the dossier: peace, war, economic and social rights, the crisis of work.

Dying of work. Edited by the philosopher and journalist Roberto Ciccarelli, the chapter analyzes the situation and working conditions in the world. According to theInternational Labor Organization (ILO) Every year 2.3 million people die from work-related accidents or illnesses worldwide. More than six thousand die every day. The same organization estimates that 340 million work-related accidents occur each year and 160 million people fall victim to work-related illnesses.

The increase in working hours. One of the causes of diseases is the increase in working hours, also due to the impact of digital technology in the world of production. Indeed, the latter reversed the trend of the decrease in average working hours recorded during the 20th century in most countries. In summary: due to the consolidation of digital platforms in the economy, people work more but earn little and the consequences on the body and mind of workers can also be serious.

Overwork. Working much more to increase productivity, always maintaining the same wage, exposes you to greater risks of mortality and cardiovascular diseases: strokes and heart attacks. Not to be underestimated is psychosocial stress, which pushes the body to such violent responses from a hormonal point of view that not only cardiovascular problems can arise, but also lifestyles that are harmful to people’s health: abuse of alcohol or tobacco, physical inactivity, unbalanced diet, loss of sleep.

Exposure to toxic substances. From a health point of view, the data report that the most common disease is heart attack and then a series of lung problems linked to breathing toxic substances: arsenic, benzene, asbestos, beryllium, cadmium, diesel engine exhaust fumes. There is also an occupational risk linked to excessive heat and concerns both the manufacturing industry and outdoor activities. Today, due to the climate emergency, the heat is considered an element of risk because it exposes workers to cardiovascular, respiratory and reproductive health diseases.

Work-related illnesses and injuries. According to data compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization, the majority of work-related diseases have been recorded in Africa, South-East Asia and the Western Pacific. Between 2000 and 2016, the occupational risk factor with the highest number of deaths was exposure to long hours of work, more than 55 per week, with over seven hundred thousand deaths. The second factor is exposure to particulates, gases and fumes. The most vulnerable are male and adult workers: in the years covered by the report, there was a 9.3 percent increase in accidents and illnesses in this age and gender category.

What happens in Europe. Between 1994 and 2018, fatal accidents in the workplace in the European Union decreased by 70 percent thanks to a series of contributing factors: deindustrialisation, improved medical care, macroeconomic factors. In 2019 there was a worsening: 3408 fatal accidents were recorded, with an increase of 76 deaths compared to the previous year. More than a fifth of these accidents occurred in the construction sector and almost three quarters involved injuries and superficial injuries.

What happens in Italy. In 2021 there were 1221 reports of fatal accidents in the workplace, in 2020 there were 1270. But these data must be read with caution because they could be affected by the delays caused by the closures due to Covid. In this picture, however, there is an increase in work-related deaths “in itinere”, i.e. people first injured and then deceased: 214 cases in 2020, 248 in 2021, with an increase of 15.9 percent. The industry and services sector is the only one that has recorded an improvement in the situation, unlike agriculture which has gone from 113 complaints to 128.

Covid-19 and deaths in the healthcare sector. According to data from the World Health Organization, 115,000 health workers worldwide died from the virus between January 2020 and May 2021. However, this is a downward estimate. For the International Council of Nurses, this high number translates into an indictment of governments that have not adequately responded to their duty to protect the workers most exposed to the infection.

The nursing crisis. Globally, the lack of protection of health personnel has caused a crisis in the nursing system. From the United States to France, many nurses resigned during the pandemic to avoid becoming infected and risking their lives for a poorly paid and little-considered social profession. The United States lacks six million nurses and by 2030, 13 million will be needed to meet the demands of hospitals.

Public health and work. A work-related public health problem exists all over the world and depends not only on the type of activity carried out but also on the organization of the same, sometimes designed to save money, even to the detriment of the health of the workers themselves.