Seminars and Conferences 2002

Inter-Regional Workshop on Occupational Safety and Health in Agriculture
Damascus, 13-16 May 2002

The Inter-regional Workshop on Occupational Safety and Health in Agriculture was organized by the ILO Regional Office for Arab States (ROAS) and the International Training Center (Turin), in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour, Syira, and the Arab Labour Organization (ALO), on 13-16 May 2002 in Damascus, Syria.
The Workshop was inaugurated by H.E. the Minister for Social Affairs and Labour Ms. Ghada Al-Jabi in the presence of H.E. the Minister for Environment and H.E. the Minister for Agriculture and the presence of representatives from the Ministry of Irrigation and the Ministry of Industry, as well as representatives of International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions (ICATU) and a number of UN agencies and NGOs. Also present were Mr. J. M. Servais, Director of Operations, ROAS; Mr. N. Watfa, Mr. W. Hamdan and Ms. L. Moukarzel, ROAS/ARMAT; Mr. E. Flores, Turin; Mr. J. Takala, Director, Safework; Ms. M. Nahmias, ILO/NAMAT; and Mr. D. Mattey, ILO Expert from the Health and Safety Executive, UK. The ALO was represented by Ms. S. Hatem. The Workhsop participants included senior occupational safety and health specialists representing member States Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen; in addition to representatives from ICATU, and other workers' and employers' organizations from Lebanon and Syria.
The objectives of the Workshop covered the presentation of the ILO Convention concerning Safety and Health in Agriculture (No. 184), 2001; and the exchange of views concerning the application and ratification of the Convention and the development of national action plans on safety and health in Agriculture.
Following successful deliberations over a period of four days and an extensive TV and press coverage, the Workshop concluded with the following results:

1. Social partners are urged to apply the ILO Convention concerning Safety and Health in Agriculture (No. 184), 2001; taking into consideration the provisions of all other ILO occupational safety and health Conventions.
2. Member States are called upon to identify the constraints which face the ratification of Convention 184, in consultation with the concerned parties.
3. Member States are called upon to review and up-date their national legislations, in consultation with the concerned parties, taking into consideration the provisions of C 184 as a first step towards its ratification; and highlighting the occupational safety and health hazards associated with agriculture in those legislations.
4. Member States are called upon to establish an Arab consultative council in occupational safety and health in agriculture, in accordance with national circumstances and practices, in consultation with the concerned parties.
5. Member States are asked to make the utmost use of media in promoting and strengthening awareness in occupational safety and health in agriculture, in consultation with the concerned parties.
6. Member States are called upon to provide for the necessary training of inspectors in occupational safety and health in agriculture, in consultation with the concerned parties.
7. Member States are called upon to develop the appropriate mechanisms which are capable of extending the coverage of occupational safety and health to the informal sector, including the strengthening of existing rural health units, in consultation with the concerned parties.
8. Member States are called upon to develop and implement a data-base system for the collection, recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases, in consultation with the concerned parties.
9. Member States are called upon to provide for facilities in rural and agricultural areas which cater for working women, in coordination with women groups and in consultation with the concerned parties.
10. Member States are called upon to provide for the protection of youth agricultural workers, in consultation with the concerned parties.
11. The ILO is called upon to support, through its Regional Office for Arab States, training and fellowships in occupational safety and health in agriculture.
12. Member States call upon the assistance of ILO in establishing national centers in the field of occupational safety and health information (ie: CIS centers).
13. Member States are called upon to introduce occupational safety and health as a training course material at the secondary, technical and university levels, including specialized institutes, with emphasis on agricultural safety.
14. The ALO is called upon to continue its support to its Occupational Health and Safety Institute in Damascus in order to enable it to perform its role as a regional institute.
15. The UNDP and other UN programmes and agencies are called upon to provide the support needed to enable the ILO to execute its activities, especially those which relate to agricultural safety.
16. Member States represented in the Workshop are called upon to organize similar workshops in order to follow-up on the outcome of this activity and to train the needed number of occupational safety and health inspectors in agriculture.