Enhancing occupational safety and health at enterprise level
A series of training on Occupational Safety and Health for enterprises in the textile and leather sectors were conducted in Lahore, Punjab
The International Labour and Environmental Standards Compliance in Pakistan’s SMEs (ILES) project, funded by the European Union, organized seven training sessions on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) for leather and textile sector enterprises in Lahore. A total of 266 (240 male: 26 female) representatives from small, medium and large enterprises participated in these sessions. Dr Tsuyoshi Kawakami, Senior OSH Specialist from ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia conducted these trainings.
The OSH trainings extending from 28 January to 1 February 2019, provided easy to apply and low cost solutions to the participating enterprises, taking guidance from ILO’s Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) methodology. Practical and real life examples of materials handling, workstations, work tools management, machine safety, working environment, hazardous chemical management, provision of welfare facilities, and floor management were provided to the participants. All trainings conducted were designed in a participative manner including in-class presentations, factory visits and group exercises.
The trainings included introduction to the OSH concept and internationally used OSH checklist. This was followed by the factory visit, which was conducted to help participants further understand the thematic areas of the training in practical. Each participant was tasked to identify areas of improvement and document them in the checklist given to them by the ILES team in their training tool kit. The factory visit exercise was followed by in-classroom presentation where some general good and bad practices with real life examples were introduced to the participants. They were guided how workers and managers can collaborate to improve OSH conditions in the factories as well as oriented on each individual’s role in ensuring improved factory working environment.
The participants of the training were also provided with several tools which could be used by the managers and workers to assess workplaces and accordingly plan improvements. A group activity was also conducted to help participants familiarise themselves with the tools.
In the coming months, ILES team will be engaging with the participating enterprises to take follow up on the improvements identified in the improvement plan as well as provide any other support to these enterprises if requested in ensuring improved, safe and healthy working conditions.
The OSH trainings extending from 28 January to 1 February 2019, provided easy to apply and low cost solutions to the participating enterprises, taking guidance from ILO’s Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) methodology. Practical and real life examples of materials handling, workstations, work tools management, machine safety, working environment, hazardous chemical management, provision of welfare facilities, and floor management were provided to the participants. All trainings conducted were designed in a participative manner including in-class presentations, factory visits and group exercises.
The trainings included introduction to the OSH concept and internationally used OSH checklist. This was followed by the factory visit, which was conducted to help participants further understand the thematic areas of the training in practical. Each participant was tasked to identify areas of improvement and document them in the checklist given to them by the ILES team in their training tool kit. The factory visit exercise was followed by in-classroom presentation where some general good and bad practices with real life examples were introduced to the participants. They were guided how workers and managers can collaborate to improve OSH conditions in the factories as well as oriented on each individual’s role in ensuring improved factory working environment.
The participants of the training were also provided with several tools which could be used by the managers and workers to assess workplaces and accordingly plan improvements. A group activity was also conducted to help participants familiarise themselves with the tools.
In the coming months, ILES team will be engaging with the participating enterprises to take follow up on the improvements identified in the improvement plan as well as provide any other support to these enterprises if requested in ensuring improved, safe and healthy working conditions.
| What is WISE: Work Improvements in Small Enterprises (WISE), also known as "Higher Productivity and a Better Place to Work", is a programme developed by the ILO to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in improving working conditions and productivity using simple, effective and affordable techniques that provide direct benefits to owners and workers. |