What is OSH Literacy?

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) literacy is the ability to find, understand, and use safety and health information to stay safe. It covers topics like fire safety, electrical safety, chemical safety, and more. Think of it as a life skill that helps you identify and avoid hazards in any situation.

Why is OSH Literacy Important?

• Most accidents are preventable: Poor communication and human error cause the majority of accidents at work and in everyday life.
• Injuries and fatalities are a serious issue: Millions of people die each year from preventable accidents and illnesses in work, public spaces and at home. Children are especially vulnerable.
• Everyone has the right to safety: OSH literacy empowers people to protect themselves and others.
• It’s a global need: OSH literacy is essential for everyone, everywhere.

We’re Making a Difference

OSH literacy is an informal, international, non-profit, advocacy organization dedicated to improving safety and health, especially for at-risk groups, through education. Although small in size, we have  worked with many different local, regional national and international institutions, businesses and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) to raise awareness and to make safety information accessible to all.

Key Milestones:

• 2024 – present: OSH literacy’s campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of accredited (unregulated) workplace Safety, Health and Wellbeing (SHW) credentials and services and those who sell them, is beginning to get results.
• 2023 – present: Call for better regulation and quality in OSH teaching and training resources.
• June 2023: International Standards Organisation (ISO) published Plain Language Guidelines, (ISO: 24495) helping to make OSH information easier to understand for which we advocated for a number of years.
• June 2022: The International Labor Organisation (ILO) recognized OSH, a safe workplace, as a fundamental right for workers.
• May 2020: OSH literacy is nominated for the UNESCO World Literacy Award by the UNESCO Office in Ireland run by the Irish Department of Education.
• Sept’ 2017: International Social Security Association (ISSA) launched the Global Vision Zero programme at the World OSH Conference in Singapore. Dave Magee participated and is named as one of the ‘People behind Vision Zero’ for his work to make OSH accessible to all.

OSH Literacy® is a protected term, registered by OSHLiteracy.org to prevent commercialization. All our services and resources are free, open access, and non-profit. Any individual or organization is free to use OSH Literacy as a term, idea, or resource, provided it is offered free. If you see ‘OSH Literacy’ being exploited commercially, please report it to us. Let’s work together  to promote OSH literacy as an important life-skill, functional literacy for the 21st century.

Join us in making the world a safer place!