[OPINION] We need resilient workplace safety and health systems Apr 28, 2021 10:00 AM PHT Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa COVID-19 has reinforced the need for resilient national Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) systems to be in place. To mark Safe Day 2021, Chihoko Asada-Miyakawa, the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, explains what they are and what needs to be done. The COVID-19 pandemic, and its profound impacts on the world of work, underscore just how important Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is to all of us. Workplaces can easily become contaminated with the novel coronavirus, exposing workers, their families, and communities to the risk of infection. In addition to the risk of infection, workers in all sectors face additional hazards that have emerged due to new work practices and procedures adopted to mitigate the spread of the virus. Teleworking, for example, has led to ergonomic and psychosocial risks, with some 65% of surveyed enterprises reporting that worker morale has been difficult to sustain while working from home.