To provide new evidence, insights and thought leadership.
To raise awareness and to disseminate information around industrial safety.
To build a resource platform and communities of practice.
Our Objectives.
The Global Initiative for Industrial Safety (GIFIS) is committed to fostering the safe integration of emerging technologies across industries.
Initiating policy, promoting best practice, and building capability.
Creating a global community to discuss future challenges and solutions.
Building consensus and sharing knowledge, leading to universal guidelines, standards, and training.
OBJECTIVES
Worker safety & wellbeing is at the forefront of our mission.
Our Manifesto details specific actions for industry, governments, academia, regulators, and international bodies, emphasizing their roles in addressing global safety challenges, particularly those posed by digitalization. It is relevant to organizations of all sizes and spans the entire supply chain, from raw material suppliers to technology providers.
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Be part of the change.
Founding organisations of GIFIS
Making the world a safer and more secure place for all.
Frequently asked questions
The Global Initiative for Industrial Safety (GIFIS) is committed to fostering the safe integration of emerging technologies across industries.
1. It is essential to improve worker safety?
It is vital that we prioritise the safety of workers. Inadequate safety measures and hazardous work environments result in 2.8 million deaths globally every year. Furthermore, safety incidents in organisations have a significant economic impact, including early retirements, skill loss and absenteeism.
2. Why is industrial safety important for sustainable development?
Industrial safety, which is often overlooked, is fundamental to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In June 2022, the International Labour Organization added the principle of a safe and healthy working environment to its Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.
3. How can emerging technologies improve industrial safety?
Emerging technologies offer new opportunities to tackle global industrial safety challenges, especially as they become cheaper, easier to use and more widely available.
4. What risks must industries manage as they adopt new technologies?
As industries evolve and incorporate new technologies, they must understand and mitigate a range of potential hazards, from traditional workplace accidents to the risks associated with cutting-edge technologies.
5. How can technology improve safety in practice?
While technology creates new challenges, it also enables new solutions. Increasingly affordable drones, for example, are helping companies to conduct hazardous inspections at high altitudes without putting workers at risk. At the same time, relatively simple sensors and analytics allow companies to pinpoint when machinery needs to be maintained to avoid accidents.
6. Why are developing countries most vulnerable to industrial safety gaps?
Developing countries are disproportionately affected, with just 10% of the population covered by safety laws. Addressing this discrepancy is crucial, not only for the wellbeing of the workforce but also for fostering sustainable and equitable economic development.
7. Where should responsibility for industrial safety lie?
Industrial safety should be integrated at every level of an organisation. It is an important concern not just for the shop floor but also at the highest levels of the organisation.
