Improving Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) systems in Central Asia, phases I -V

Brief description

There is an urgent need for international support to the Central Asian countries in the endeavour to reinforce the national systems and programmes on OSH particularly in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, to systematically improve the working conditions and environment.

Based on this background, a technical cooperation project was started in 2007 with the financial support of the Government of Korea. The 2007 project (phase I) focused on the study of OSH situation aimed at the development of national OSH profiles.

The second phase was based on these national OSH profiles (situational analysis) and aimed at the preparation of national OSH programmes, in accordance with the framework in ILO Convention 187. The Ministry of Labour of Kazakhstan has a 5 year strategy including OSH. Kyrgyzstan has a national OSH programme, which is in need of updating. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have developed tri-partite General Agreements including an element on OSH during the second phase. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan (which has an OSH concept) have not yet developed national OSH programmes.

Preparation of standards, guidelines and training material (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, based on Russian and Korean material) for the implementation of modern OSH systems was done in parallel with efforts to prepare national OSH programmes in the second and third phase of the Korean project. An emphasis on capacity building of local resources was deemed necessary in the third phase to provide sustainability of the process.

The fourth phase of the project is using the experience gained from the analysis and preparation process (phases I and II) to continue capacity building (phase III) of OSH specialists (especially in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan) and introduction of OSH management systems based on ILO-OSH 2001 (GOST 12.0.230-2007) in model enterprises (Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan). Due to the extreme lack of OSH specialists in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan the project has had to focus more training of local experts in OSH MS and risk assessment in these countries. Presently, during the fourth phase, organisation of OSH training aimed at enterprises and assistance to introduce OSH MS at enterprises is done in joint events with international and local experts. The creation of OSH information and training centres has started in these both countries to provide a focal point for information dissemination and ensure sustainability.

The fifth phase is focusing on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, aiming at capacity building and introduction of OSH MS at selected enterprises. Training material, best practices and examples from the neighbouring countries as well as KOSHA material is used in in the training. A core of trained OSH specialists is emerging in the target countries, which is providing training for selected high-risk enterprises. The presence of model enterprises having introduced modern OSH management systems will affect the upgrading of the OSH legislation in the countries. The missions of KOSHA experts, participating in local seminars, will boost the process and increase the visibility of the project.

The project is utilising a multitude of KOSHA material (training manuals, video clips, etc), which have been adapted and translated for the region.