Furthering decent work by expanding the role of occupational safety and health

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations (UN) have promoted the concept of decent work as a Sustainable Development Goal for 2030 to address critical global problems. Occupational safety and health (OSH) are components of decent work, primarily through the ILO social protection objective of the goal, and are linked to various other objectives.

This Commentary applies a previously published staging framework to stimulate thinking about how the OSH field can contribute further to the achievement of decent work.

To advance the contribution of the framework, the different functions of OSH (research, practice, advocacy, governance, and professional education) were used to identify impediments to achieving decent work and develop recommendations for each determinant in the framework.

Promoting and achieving decent work are complex issues that require a multifactorial approach. Numerous recommendations supporting systems thinking and transdisciplinary approaches are provided.

The OSH field can expand to further address decent work.