PROJECT ACTIVITIES: Improving safety and health at work through a Decent Work Agenda

This page highlights the occupational safety and health (OSH) events and activities organized in the five pilot countries within the project framework.

Project documentation | 27 June 2012

Southern Africa

Central America

Eastern Europe

Specific activities undertaken by the Improving safety and health at work through a Decent Work Agenda project include:

  • Develop national OSH profiles (situational and needs analyses).
  • Develop national programmes on OSH and launch them at the highest political level.
  • Train policy makers on prioritising OSH.
  • Develop and publish a tool on calculating the costs of poor OSH practices to the national economy.
  • Develop and publish a methodology to determine more accurately the number of occupational accidents and diseases in a country.
  • Train labour inspectors to promote more efficient and effective OSH inspections and ensure implementation of the OSH programme.
  • Train trainers in risk assessment and management methodologies.
  • Conduct awareness-raising campaigns, based on the ILO World Day for Safety and Health at Work and the European Week for Safety and Health at Work.
  • Develop a report of the project conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations for a systematic and sustainable approach to improving OSH in a national context.
  • Organize one global conference to share experience from the five pilot countries.

Southern Africa

Occupational safety and health issues are generally less visible and not adequately recognized as a problem in developing countries where risks are often greater than in industrialized countries. Moreover, comprehensive and harmonised data collection systems on occupational accidents and diseases are poorly developed in low-income Southern African countries, leading to a serious underestimation of the magnitude of occupational accidents and diseases. The expansion of the informal economy also increases challenges in improving occupational safety and health

Malawi

Zambia

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Central America

Occupational safety and health has been identified as a “priority for the social actors in the region” according to the Decent Work in the Americas Hemispheric Agenda, 2006-2015. A priority goal is to “reduce the incidence of occupational accidents and illnesses by 20 percent within 10 years (by 2015), and double occupational safety and health protection for sectors and collectives heretofore not covered”.

Honduras

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Eastern Europe

Most Eastern European countries have aspirations to eventually become EU members and are taking steps to bring their legislation and practices into line with the acquis communautaire on many fronts. Nevertheless, important gaps still exist, including in occupational safety and health and working conditions. The establishment of democracy and the market economy in Eastern Europe requires fundamental changes in managing occupational safety and health. This would entail taking into account the small enterprises in the private sector in addition to promoting prevention through risk assessment and bipartite dialogue.

Moldova

Ukraine

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