'Although the problem seemed insurmountable even a few years ago, we now have a blueprint for improving the lot of workers who do the dangerous job of recycling old ships', said Paul Bailey, an International Labour Office (ILO) expert on ship-breaking.

The new guidelines come at a time when the number of ships destined for 'recycling' or 'breaking' is growing dramatically. Though precise figures are unknown, the number of ships to be recycled has soared following recent accidents on the high seas involving ageing vessels, and new regulations condemning even younger ships to the scrap yards. This has lent a new sense of urgency to the need to improve the safety and health of the tens of thousands of workers who demolish, or 'break' these huge old ships sometimes for as little as US$ 1 per day.

The tripartite meeting in Bangkok brought together representatives of the world's major ship breaking countries - Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Turkey - with officials of the International Metalworkers Federation, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the Secretariat of the Basle Convention, the ILO and experts from Canada, Germany, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The guidelines are the first to provide models for ensuring safe work in ship breaking within the overall framework of the ILO's decent work agenda and can also provide advice on the step-bystep transformation of a mainly informal sector activity into the more formal, organised economy.

They are also an attempt to assist ship breakers and competent authorities alike, to implement the relevant provisions of ILO standards, codes of practice and guidelines on occupational safety and health and working conditions aiming at progressive improvement.

The practical recommendations contained in the guidelines are intended for use by all those who have responsibility for occupational safety and health in ship-breaking operations. They are not legally binding, nor are they intended to replace national laws, regulations or accepted standards but have been drawn up to provide guidance to those engaged in the framing of relevant provisions and systems, procedures and regulations where they do not exist.

Effective ship breaking largely depends on how the vessel is prepared for dismantling.

Although the maritime industry is very well regulated, the end of a vessel's life and its dismantling are not yet comprehensively covered.

The guidelines will be issued in concert with other international instruments including those of the IMO and the Basle Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The ILO said it would translate the guidelines into the languages of the five countries present and actively promote their use in these countries.

Union and employer representatives hailed the agreement, saying that workers lacking basic medical facilities, union representation, their own residential areas, or clean drinking water would stand to benefit from the new guidelines. The social partners said the guidelines would help governments in the Asian region develop appropriate national policies to help enforce safer working conditions.

'Ship breaking on the beaches in Asian countries represents the downside of globalisation', Mr. Bailey said. 'After industrialised countries of the western world are through using their ships, they get scrapped on beaches without dry-dock facilities or safety measures for workers. The challenge facing us is how this can be done in a safer manner. The guidelines will hopefully represent a practical development.'