Workforce

Pages29-31
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Part III. General requirements
5. Workforce
Employment conditions
124. High turnover in the workforce may increase operating costs and the risk
of accidents. Employment should therefore encourage low turnover.
125. Working hours should not exceed the number prescribed by national laws
or collective agreements where applicable. The ILO Reduction of Hours of Work
Recommendation, 1962 (No. 116), should be considered a guide for improving
health and safety in the workplace.
126. Working hours should be arranged so as to provide adequate periods of
rest which include:
(a) short breaks during working hours;
(b) sufficient breaks for meals;
(c) daily or nightly rest;
(d) weekly rest.
Particularly in physically demanding work, operatives should be encouraged to take
short breaks during working hours to recover their vigilance and physical fitness.
Ideally, the duration and frequency of breaks and rests should be prescribed by laws
and regulations or collective agreements.
127. Where shift work and night work present undue hazards, they should be
minimized. Where night work is required, lighting and other safety and health
conditions should be managed to ensure that shift risks do not exceed those in
daytime operations.
128. To achieve the goals for safety and health described in this code, all
personnel must make an effective contribution. This implies that workers should be
only assigned to tasks for which they are suited.
129. Pregnant women should only be employed to do light work and should not
lift and carry loads at all; contact with hazardous chemical substances should also
be avoided.
130. Persons who have not reached the age of completion of compulsory
schooling or who are under the age of 15 years must not be employed in any case.
Persons under the age of 18 years should not be employed in tasks that have been
assessed, in consultation with employers, workers and their organizations
concerned, as likely to jeopardize the safety and health of young persons.
131. The consumption of alcohol or drugs can have a negative impact on safety
at the workplace. A person whose normal functions are impaired should be
prohibited from the worksite. Each enterprise should develop a policy on how to
manage alcohol- and drug-related issues at the workplace. Guidance on this is
provided in the ILO code of practice Management of alcohol- and drug-related
issues in the workplace (see list of references and further reading).

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