Training of Trainers on Occupational Safety and Health for Trade Union Representatives in

Africa

F. Muchiri ILO-DWT Pretoria

Relation Between Occupational safety and

Health and Work

13 to 17 August 2012 Kwame Nkrumah Labour College,

Accra, Ghana

Fatal accidents: 321, 0000 Injuries: 317 million Work-related diseases

fatality: 2.02 million

Global estimates of work-related accidents and diseases for 2008

2001: 438,000

2003: 651,000

2008: 910,000

Estimated work-related deaths caused by hazardous

substances

?

No. Deaths

Time

Economic crisis and OSH

Economic pressure

Less people

employed

Reduction on OSH

investment

Increased work intensity

Increased stress Higher

incident rate

Less economic activities less people at work less accidents

Critical Sectors

• Agriculture • Mining • Construction • Informal Sector (accounted for >90% of New

Jobs in African in the lasts Decade)

More than 80 feared dead in --- mining

accident

SMEs and informal economy

• Lack of OSH expertise • Difficulties in the reach of OSH support

(inspection, advisory, support services) • Accidents : under reporting

• Studies often show higher accident rate

SMEs and IE created over 93% of the New Jobs in Africa in the Last Decade

But what does this mean ?

• In economic terms it is estimated that:-

– roughly 4% of the annual global Gross Domestic Product,

– or US$1.25 trillion,

• is lost through by direct and indirect costs of occupational accidents and diseases such as:- – lost working time, – workers’ compensation, – the interruption of production and – medical expenses.

OSH Global Trends • In most countries, vast numbers of workplace

accidents, fatalities and diseases are not reported or recorded.

• In the EU the annual cost of work related injuries and ill-health in 2001 was estimated at between 2.6-3.8% of the GNP

• UK according to HSE, in 1998 estimated the cost at 2.0% of the GDP which was growing at an average of 2.6% annually

Global estimated work-related mortality

by cause (2008)

Work and General Environment

Structure of the economies in Africa

Undermined by other factors- Child labour, HIV/AIDS, Communicable diseases….

Source ILO Glo

bal E

stim

ated

Wor

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by

Reg

ion

Work-related communicable diseases

• Main contributing and preventable factors:- – Infectious and parasitic diseases (malaria, viral and

bacterial diseases, schistosomiasis, tse-tse flies, zoonosis ...)

– Poor-quality drinking water, poor sanitation – Poor hygiene, lack of knowledge

Note: incidents involving dangerous animals, snakesand insects are usually recorded under accidents.

Some Issues Influencing OSH Changing Patterns of Employment

• Many of countries are experiencing an upsurge in the casualization of labour due to impacts of globalization and the global economic crisis leading to-

• Restructuring, • Right sizing • Privatization • Loss of jobs • Loss of benefits

Growth of informal sector

Poor coverage/ heavy challenge to OSH services

Emerging Issues

• Psychosocial issues at the workplace:- – Violence at work – Dealing with HIV/AIDs at the workplace – Stress at Work – Drug abuse – Cyber addition …. – New technologies and materials

Deadly Emerging Issues

• New Instruments and Tools

• National Legislation/Programmes

Actions taken by the ILO by the Member States

ILO Instruments and Tools • Convention 155 • Convention 187 • Convention 161(Occupational Health Services) • Convention 148(Working Environment (Air Pollution, Noise & Vibration) • Convention 162 (Asbestos) • Convention 139 (Occupational Cancer Convention) • Convention 170 (Chemicals) • Protocol P155 (2002 to the Occupational Safety and

Health Convention to C155) ……

Impacts of Poor Safety and Health

• Many of the world's foremost companies accept that, quite apart from a human concern for their employees' well-being, a "business case" can be made for achieving the highest occupational health and safety standards.

Impacts of Poor Safety and Health

• Higher absenteeism and more downtime, leading to loss of productivity, underutilization of expensive production plant and a possible decrease in economies of scale;

• Loss of skilled, experienced employees, plus the loss of the company's investment in their training.

• Low morale, leading to loss of productivity.

Principles for motivating staff Appoint the right

skills

Provide training

Control demands of job

Supervision Be positive & value

staff Treat workers

fairly Team spirit

Impacts of Poor Safety and Health

• Difficulty in recruiting high-quality employees;

• Payment of compensation and/or damages to injured or sick workers or to the dependents of workers killed. Associated legal costs;

• Higher insurance premiums • Material damage to equipment and premises, due to

incidents and accidents; • Fines……..

Impacts of Poor Safety and Health

• Disputes with trade unions, public authorities and/or local residents;

• Loss of image; • Loss of custom – particularly in the case of

subcontractors to larger companies…….

Reputation and responsibility- Core Indicators

• "Practices on recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases

• OSH Policy, Programmes, Committees

• Standard injury, lost day, and absentee rates and number of work-related fatalities (including subcontracted workers)

WHO and ILO Global Strategy for BOHS

ILO/WHO have a standing Committee on OSH since 1950 that meets every three years

Collaboration – African Joint Effort (AJE)

Decent Work is Safe Work

Basic Occupational Health Services

• WHO estimates that only about 10 to 15% of workers worldwide have some kind of access to occupational health services, and extending coverage is a key challenge.

• In most countries there is no link between OSH services and Primary Health-care systems

BOHS

BOHS as a part of an integrated OSH infrastructure

• BOHS is part of the wider Primary Health Care policy –

• BOHS are a part of the overall OSH infrastructure… OSH System! – At National Level and – At Enterprise level

Occupational Health Services (OHS)

• The central purpose is the primary prevention of occupational and work-related diseases and injuries.

• To protect and promote the health of workers, an OHS

has to meet the special needs of the various sectors and workers

• ILO OHS Convention No.161, 1985 provides the international standard on OHS

• Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health (1950)

• Basic Occupational Health Services

Basic OSH Services

ILO and WHO Strategy Concept

working environment

Principles of Basic OHS

• Available to all working people • Addresses local needs • Adapted to local conditions • Affordable to providers and clients • Organized by the employer for employees • Provided by the public sector for the self-

employed & the informal sector • Supported by intermediate level services

Basic Principles for BOSH • Focus on accident risks, diseases • heavy physical work, work-related welfare • Basic sanitation and hygiene, • Most hazardous chemical, physical and

biological factors (including HIV/AIDS) • A multidisciplinary team approach –

engineering, health, purchasing, production..

Links with Primary Health Care (PHC) Services

• Know which communicable diseases are critical,---- Action for prevention, control & treatment

• OSH Staff : need to know the most important occupational health hazards and their origin, nature and means for

prevention. • This implies that OSH

– cannot be provided without at least a minimum amount of special training in OSH

• ..Develop OSH through a stepwise strategy – ILO has such

tools

BOHS system & infrastructures: Stepwise development of the OHS

system

BASIC FUNCTIONS of OHS

• Aim of protecting and promoting workers' safety, health and well-being,

• Surveillance of the Working Environment – Occupational Hygiene audits - walk-through

surveys - multidisciplinary occupational health team supplemented by employers' and workers'

representatives – As part of risk Management.

What is a risk assessment? Risk assessment is the process of evaluating safety and health risks arising from hazards in the workplace:- ➠ A hazard is anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, machinery and equipment, an open drawer, aspects of work organization, etc. (ie it has potential to cause harm) ➠ The risk is the chance or probability, high or low, that somebody could be harmed by these and other hazards.

What is a risk assessment?

• A careful and systematic examination of all aspects of the work undertaken to consider what could cause injury or harm;

• Find out if the hazards can be eliminated and, if not,

• What preventive or protective measures are, or should be, in place to control the risks.

First eliminate the hazards and if it is not possible control the risks

Purpose of risk assessment

A risk assessment enables effective measures to be taken to protect the safety and health of workers:-

– Preventing occupational risks; – Providing information and training to workers; – Putting in place the organization and means to

implement the necessary measures;

Principles of OSH Risk management

• Risk management is the identification, assessment, and prioritization of Risks –

followed by coordinated and economical

application of resources to minimize, monitor, and control the probability and/or impact of undesired events

Strategies to manage risks

• Risk management involves all workers and the employer-

– Employer identifies and deals with the risks that arise

in the workplace and puts safety and health measures in place to prevent and or control them and making sure they are effective

– Risk management is about practical steps to protect

people from real harm and suffering arising out of these risk.

Risk management IS NOT about:

• Creating a totally risk free society

• Generating useless mountains of paperwork

• Scaring people by exaggerating or publicising trivial risks

• Reducing protection of people from risks that cause real harm and suffering

Surveillance of workers' health

• Pre-assignment (pre-employment) health examinations – through PHC?

• Periodic health examinations – for Who? – How periodic?

• Return to work health examinations

• Health examinations at termination or after ending of service

Types of Health Occ. surveillance

• Three surveillance methods can be employed:

– Medical ----- Effects, – Environmental ----- Exposure and – Biological ----- Absorption.

Assessment • Identification of workers or groups of workers

exposed to specific hazards - Gender • Analysis of how the hazard may affect the worker

(ways of entry and type of exposure, adverse health effects it may cause, etc.) – Pesticides?

• Determination of intensity (level) and magnitude

(volume) of risk – Support Services:

Assessment • Identification of individuals and groups with

special vulnerabilities – expectant mothers? • Evaluation of available hazard prevention and

control measures – effective? • Making conclusions and recommendations for

the management – Safety Committee? • Documenting the findings of the assessment –

Record? • Periodic review and, if necessary, reassessment

of risks

Workers' Health Surveillance

• Organized framework based on sound ethical and technical practice and ensure:-

– Professional independence and impartiality

of the relevant health professionals; – Workers' privacy and confidentiality of

individual health information;

– Assess the effectiveness of previously implemented control measures;

Medical examinations

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of control measures in the workplace;

• Detection of pre-clinical and clinical abnormalities at a

point when intervention is beneficial to individuals' health; • Prevention of further deterioration in workers' health; • Reinforcement of safe methods of work and of health

maintenance; and • Assessment of fitness for a particular type of work, the

present concern being the adaptation of the workplace to the worker!

Medical examinations

• Inform workers of potential injuries/diseases & control measures necessary for prevention;

• Inform workers of potential diseases and

conditions of work and exposures which are medically contra-indicated, and advise them where they can get help in the treatment or correction of their condition;

Medical examinations • Inform workers and their employers of the effectiveness or

otherwise of control measures;

• Help the employer to place workers in occupations that take into account their capacity for particular work;

• Draw the attention of young persons to their physical and mental aptitudes, in order to facilitate appropriate vocational guidance;

• prevent the total exclusion of any worker from employment, and provide for the employment of each worker;

Medical examinations

• Should be routine and given to their value and relevance.

• Should be governed by a set of principles which

include:-

– selecting appropriate tests which are acceptable to workers;

– discarding tests that cannot meet requirements with

respect to their relevance, specificity and sensitivity; and – periodically reviewing health surveillance programmes as

a whole and modifying them in the light of improved working conditions.

Health Hazards

Un-Healthy Environment

Healthy Worker Exposure

Illness Diagnosis

Treatment

Healthy Worker

Recognition & Evaluation

Prevention & control (engineering)

Healthy Environment

Routes of Exposure • Hazardous substances may

cause immediate or long-term health effects.

• Exposure to these substances may result in poisoning, irritation, chemical burns, sensitisation, cancer, birth defects or diseases of certain organs such as the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys and nervous system.

• The severity of the health effects depends on the substance and the dose absorbed.

Source: FIOH 30 years of Epidemiology Sven Hernberg Symposium, ILO /SafeWork

Hazards at work

Dose-response relationship

Exposures, quantity

Working/exposure time

100 diseases

1 death Multi-outcome

Physical, ergonomic, chemical, carcinogens, biological, allergens, safety, psycho-social

An Integrated approach

General The following questions are answered through

evaluation of workplace OHS services:-

a) Do the services respond to the needs of the workplace?

b) Are the activities directed to priority problems?

c) Are good OSH practices followed – are they preventing/controlling the problems ?

d) Are the resources, human and technical, sufficient?

e) What can be improved? Immediate / long-term?

Thank You