Understanding OSH Literacy: An Essential Life Skill

What is Literacy?
Literacy is the ability to read, write, and understand a particular language or type of information. In recent years the concept of literacy has changed. In this 21st century Age-of-Information and multiliteracies, literacy now encompasses competency in specific areas, such as computer or financial literacy. Each of the many new, recognized literacies has its own unique set of symbols, terminology and skills:

• Language Literacy: Letters, punctuation, and words (a, b, c, ?!, &), the ability to read and write.
• Numeracy: Numbers, operations, and tools (1, 2, 3, +, –, =, calculator).
• Computer/Digital Literacy: Technology-related symbols, tools and skills (@, /, _, modem).
• Financial Literacy: Understanding money and percentages ($, £, %, currency).
• Other Literacies: Health, musical, geographical, media and many, many more.

To be classed as competent in any field, one must possess the necessary literacy skills for that domain. Humans do not have a natural ability to identify, interpret and use different literacies. They must be taught from entry level to advanced. Educators, trainers and learners are all familiar with this structured model of literacy acquisition.

What is OSH Literacy?

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) literacy is the ability to find, understand, interpret, communicate and use safety and health information to prevent harm. It includes the ability to recognise hazards, understand warnings, follow instructions, assess and reduce risk, use safety equipment, ask questions, report concerns, and know where and how to find reliable help.

Although OSH literacy is often associated with workplaces, OSH literacy is not only a workplace skill. It is a transferable, lifelong learning, functional, life skill. It applies wherever people live, learn, work, travel, communicate, shop, play, care for others, or use products, services and digital technologies. We can see and use it at home, school, in public spaces as well as in work and training.

OSH literacy includes the ability to understand the visible language of safety: signs, shapes, symbols, colours, pictograms, labels, alarms, warnings, safety data sheets and technical terminology. These communication systems are internationally standardised (made the same) by bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), international traffic-sign agreements and others.

However, OSH literacy is much more than the ability to understand safety signs and symbols. It also includes how to act safely and human factors, digital safety, psychological and psychosocial safety, emergency preparedness, safe use of products and equipment, understanding hazards and risks, recognising when something is wrong, and knowing how to reduce the risk,  how and why to use safety equipment, report concerns, warn others and seek help. As with other literacies, OSH literacy must be taught from entry-level. Learners must have the basic levels, the A, B, Cs and 1, 2, 3s, to act as a foundation for lifelong learning in order to access higher levels. These foundation levels should be taught as a literacy in schools from a young age.

The Components of OSH Literacy:

• Reading and information skills: The ability to find, read, understand and use OSH information, including instructions, policies, safety data sheets, labels, warnings, alarms and technical terminology.
• Visual literacy: The ability to recognise and respond correctly to standardised safety signs, shapes, colours, pictograms, hazard symbols, electrical symbols, traffic signs, emergency signs and public safety warnings.
• Numeracy skills: The ability to understand measurements, exposure limits, dosage, time, distance, weight, temperature, safe loads, risk levels, statistics and safety data.
• Risk and hazard awareness: The ability to identify hazards, understand risk, recognise when something is unsafe, and know how to reduce or avoid harm.
• Digital safety literacy: The ability to recognise digital risks, unreliable safety information, scams, misinformation, unsafe online instructions and cyber-related risks.
• Psychosocial safety literacy: The ability to recognise risks linked to bullying, harassment, abuse, stress, fatigue, violence, coercion, exploitation, discrimination, isolation, poor supervision and unsafe situations.
• Practical safety skills: The ability to use safety equipment, follow procedures, wear personal protective equipment, respond to alarms, evacuate safely, use fire extinguishers where appropriate, and act correctly in emergencies.
• Communication and help-seeking skills: The ability to ask questions, report hazards, challenge unsafe instructions, warn others, explain risks and instructions clearly, support and help others, and know where and how to find reliable help.

Why OSH Literacy is Critical

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), preventable accidents are among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Vulnerable groups such as children, young people, persons with Special Educational Needs and (visible & invisible) Disabilities (SEND), individuals in their first 12 months of employment, older people, migrants, persons with low levels of English (the lingua franca) and those in 3D (dangerous, dirty and demeaning) jobs or high-risk sectors like agriculture, fishing, construction, and waste management are particularly affected.

• The ILO reports (2023) that nearly 3 million workers die each year from work-related accidents and diseases.
• This represents an increase of more than 5 per cent compared with 2015.
• The ILO also estimates that workers sustain around 395 million non-fatal work injuries each year.
• The ILO estimates that the costs of poor occupational safety and health amount to roughly 4% of global GDP, well above US$4 trillion, annually.
• Already at-risk and disadvantaged groups such as young people, females, migrants and those in the global south are disproportionately represented in these statistics.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) identifies preventable injuries including road traffic crashes, drowning, burns, falls and poisoning — as a leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents.
• Millions more children and young people suffer, often life-changing, injuries due to preventable accidents.

• 62% of the global workforce said they had never received occupational safety and health training about risks associated with their work.
• Only 30% said they had received OSH training within the past two years.
• About 18% of workers globally reported experiencing harm at work in the previous two years.
• This was estimated to equal around 667 million adults experiencing workplace harm.
• Nearly half of workplace harm went unreported; Lloyd’s Register Foundation reported that only 51% of workers who experienced harm said they reported it.
• Workers who had received OSH training in the previous two years were 3.3 times more likely to report workplace harm than workers who had never received training.
• The report was based on about 147,000 interviews across 142 countries.

Key Challenges Include:

• Poor communication and human factors, including insufficient education and training, are the primary causes of most preventable incidents.
• The OSH industry, especially OSH education and training is highly unregulated in some countries. Anyone can call themselves and OSH expert or trainer.
• At-risk groups often work in unregulated or hazardous environments, 3D jobs as well as seasonal, gig-economy, and black-economy employment.
• Barriers to OSH literacy include lack of education and training, cognitive (such as learning difficulties), physical (e.g. poor eyesight or hearing), linguistic (English is the Lingua franca of OSH and OSH uses a lot of specialized terminology), and socio-economic factors.
• Already overworked and underpaid teachers and OSH supervisors simply do not have the time, qualifications, experience or resources to deliver good, inclusive OSH literacy lessons and training.
• Increasingly OSH information and training is becoming digitalised preventing many from accessing it behind paywalls or due to poor digital and OSH literacy skills.

In today’s information age, we are constantly bombarded with signs, symbols, logos, icons and advertisements. Many lack the OSH literacy skills needed to recognize and prioritize safety messages, resulting in confusion or being oblivious to critical safety warnings.

                                                                                                            The Benefits of OSH Literacy

OSH literacy bridges the gap between education and independent living and workplace demands. It provides a foundation for lifelong learning and better equips individuals to navigate work and life safely.

• For Individuals: OSH literacy enhances long and short-term health and socio-economic mobility prospects. Employers highly value candidates with these skills, which improve safety compliance. Knowledge can also be shared within families and communities, promoting a broader culture of safety.
• For Employers: Awareness of OSH literacy barriers allows employers to meet legal and moral responsibilities while improving communication and reducing workplace incidents.

The Case for OSH Literacy in Education

For years, businesses and global organizations have called for school curricula to align with workplace needs. OSH literacy fulfils this demand by preparing young people to transition safely into employment and independent living.

OSH literacy:

• Addresses gaps in safety and health education that can aid reducing preventable illnesses, accidents, injuries, and fatalities.
• Ensures vulnerable groups are better equipped to engage with OSH information.
• Aligns with global goals, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3, 4, 5, and 8.
• Helps us to fulfil a duty-of-care to prepare our children and young people to safely and successfully transition from childhood to adulthood.

OSH Literacy in Action

OSH literacy has initiated numerous international outreach projects. These efforts consistently show that pre-teaching basic OSH literacy significantly improves understanding, engagement, and compliance. Early education also identifies individuals needing additional support, allowing for targeted interventions to safeguard them and others.

What We Do

At OSH Literacy, we:

• Train teachers, trainers and safety representatives to make OSH education, training and communications inclusive and effective.
• Advocate for OSH literacy to be recognized and taught as an essential life skill.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to align educational systems with employment needs.
• Campaign for ethical, inclusive, professionally produced and vetted OSH teaching and training materials and practises.
• See ‘Projects in Pics’

By recognizing and teaching OSH literacy from foundation level, we can build safer, more cohesive education-to-employment eco-systems and provide tangible, lifelong benefits to individuals, communities, and economies.

A Brief History of OSH literacy: The first identified academic use of the term OSH literacy was in the Journal of Medical Internet Research in 2012, in a paper by Rhebergen, Lenderink, van Dijk, and Hulshof. In that paper, it was mentioned only twice in a short paragraph and linked to the World Health Organization’s existing definition of health literacy. However, by applying that definition to occupational safety and health, the authors opened the door to a wider safety-and-health literacy need, not simply a narrow health or medical literacy issue. They suggested that the idea of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) literacy should be explored further.

The practical work behind OSHliteracy.org began earlier. From around 2004, its founder was already teaching occupational safety and health as a literacy issue through his work with the Workplace Basic Skills Unit and by helping at-risk groups transition into employment, training, and independent living, although the work had not yet been given the name “OSH literacy.” OSHliteracy.org took up the challenge of naming, defining, developing, and promoting the concept. It has developed the modern definition, framework, educational application, and public identity of OSH literacy. Through published articles, educational resources, dedicated webpages, conference presentations, outreach training programs for educators, workers, schoolchildren, at-risk and disadvantaged groups, OSH professionals, and public advocacy, OSHliteracy.org has developed that early academic reference into a comprehensive and practical field of work. This work demonstrates that OSH literacy is not only a workplace competence, but also a transferable lifelong learning and life-skill literacy relevant to all age groups and all contexts. It has helped establish OSH literacy as a distinct and essential 21st-century functional life skill. The concept of OSH literacy is now being explored and discussed further in academic, educational, workplace, and public policy contexts. It continues to grow.

OSH Literacy® is a protected term in Europe and the UK, registered by OSHLiteracy.org to prevent commercialization. All our services and resources are free, open access, and non-profit. Any individual or organization may freely use OSH Literacy as a term, idea, or resource, provided it is not for profit. If you see OSH Literacy being exploited commercially, please report it to us. Together, we can protect and promote OSH literacy as a universal human right.

Thank you for reading. Should you require further information or advice about OSH literacy, please do not hesitate to contact me or a member of our team.

Yours sincerely,
Dave Magee
Founder, OSH Literacy
Contact: davidmagee@oshliteracy.org