Technical Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health

The position is located in the Labour Administration, Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Branch within the Governance and Tripartism Department (GOVERNANCE). GOVERNANCE develops advice on labour laws and assistance on labour law reforms based on ILO Conventions and Recommendations. It provides state-of-the-art technical support and capacity building to labour ministries and assists labour inspectorates in building capacity and developing strategies to achieve compliance with labour laws, including occupational safety and health laws. It advocates and helps constituents to build strong and functional institutions and processes for social dialogue.

LABADMIN/OSH assists member States in strengthening and modernizing their labour administration, labour inspection and OSH systems and policies. It supports member States in developing strategies to increase compliance with national labour laws and regulations and ratified international labour standards, strengthening the enforcement and preventive functions of labour inspection and labour administration and providing technical assistance and capacity building to labour inspectorates and to social partners. It also provides support to ILO constituents in designing labour legislation, including on OSH, and undertakes research on relevant topics, advocacy and dissemination of technical information and training of government officials, representatives of employers' and workers' organizations and members of the judiciary.

The position will support the work of the Branch in the development of OSH standards, assist with their ratification and implementation, and provide policy and technical advice to member States on the systematic strengthening of national OSH systems in general and in addressing specific hazards, particularly chemical, biological, physical and ergonomic hazards. The position reports to the Team Lead on OSH, under the overall guidance of the Branch Chief.

1.    Assist the Office in developing international labour standards, technical guidelines and codes of practice on OSH, and especially in relation to biological, chemical, physical and ergonomic hazards.
2.    Promote ratification of ILO Conventions related to OSH and provide advice and support towards global, regional and national activities for their effective implementation.
3.    Advise ILO constituents on the application and implementation of international labour standards related to OSH and the use of codes of practice and guidelines, in particular OSH management system guidelines.
4.    Participate in the development of participative and sustainable ILO global, regional and national strategies for prevention of occupational fatalities, injuries and diseases.
5.    Conduct research on OSH topics, in particular on the implications of the future of work and climate change on OSH.
6.    Foster cross-regional cooperation, including by promoting global and regional networks and bilateral or multilateral cooperation in the area of OSH.
7.    Assist field offices and countries in developing and implementing national OSH policies and programmes.
8.    Organize knowledge management events, including technical meetings, conferences and awareness campaigns at the global, regional and national levels to promote a safety and health preventative culture.
9.    Design and implement gender-sensitive OSH-related training, projects and activities, with a focus on high-risk sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises, the informal economy, enterprises in global supply chains, and groups of workers most vulnerable to decent work deficits.
10.    Conduct research and develop global tools on OSH public administration systems, enterprise OSH management systems, hazard identification and risk assessment, trends related to OSH and emerging risks, new preventive and risk control measures, techniques and technologies.
11.    Analyze OSH data and information, in particular systems for recording and reporting occupational fatalities, injuries and diseases.
12.    Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties:

1.    Design and promote a wide range of special subject-matter-related programmes, This involves: re-analysis of complex or conflicting data, statistics and information or policy guidelines, in a manner requiring the advanced application of principles of a recognised technical specialisation.

2.      Provide policy advice to ILO’s constituents on institutional strengthening, the application of ILO standards and the promotion of development cooperation activities.

3.    Formulate and submit project proposals and seek funding.

4.    Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of project activities.

5.    Undertake technical advisory missions independently or in collaboration with other specialists.

6.    Conduct seminars, workshops, technical meetings and training courses.

7.    Write manuals and/or training guides on related topics.

8.     Disseminate information on programmes through publications and press releases, as well as ensuring representation at donors’ meetings, international, regional and national fora and advocacy campaigns.

9.    Monitor and coordinate research carried out by junior technical officers and external collaborators.

10.    Provide technical inputs to office documents (sectoral meetings, technical committees, regional meetings and conference reports).

11.    Participate in tripartite reviews on development cooperation activities and international meetings and conferences.

Advanced university degree in occupational safety and health, engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, biology, medicine or public health. Specialized studies on OSH are required.

Minimum eight years of professional experience on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) at the national level or five years at the international level. Demonstrated experience in the development of OSH public administration systems and enterprise-level OSH management systems for the prevention of OSH hazards in large and small and micro-sized enterprises.

Experience working with constituents on OSH issues in developing countries would be an advantage. Experience on chemical, biological or ergonomic hazards would also be an advantage.

Excellent command of one official language (English, French or Spanish) of the Organization and a working knowledge of a second official language. One of these languages must be English.

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

Technical competencies:
Job specific competencies include the ability to: synthesize research and reach empirically based conclusions on related subjects; provide seasoned advice on best practices, to address broader issues outside the field of specialization; formulate new concepts and methodologies; develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy, procedural matters and present them at high-level meetings; design and synthesize strategies for  programme development in member States; produce reports (e.g. reports for regional conferences and the International Labour Conference, technical publications, training manuals and draft resolutions) and evaluate and monitor development cooperation activities and projects.

Behavioural competencies
Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.