ILO Training in occupational safety and health for the fisheries industry in Namibia
The training on occupational safety and health provisions on fishing vessels aimed to equip participants with knowledge on the implementation of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC,2006).
(ILO News, Windhoek) –Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), is recognized as an ILO fundamental principle and right. The International Labour Organization (IO), through the Sustainable Supply Chains to Build Forward Better Project, funded by the European Union, recently organized week-long training on occupational safety and health provisions on board fishing vessels for 44 labour inspectors, shop stewards, fisheries inspectors, and fisheries observers in Walvis Bay, Erongo region, and Lüderitz, Karas Region.
Through the training, stakeholders learned how to detect hazards onboard fishing vessels and to create a network system that will ensure effective communication and collaboration thereby increasing the integration of inspections of living and working conditions onboard fishing vessels. Additionally, the trainings highlighted the safety programs in the fishing industry, the causative factors of industrial accidents, the basic elements in safety management for accident control, and risk management. At the end of the course, trainees have been equipped with practical information on the implementation of the occupational safety and health provisions as indicated under Regulation 4.3 and relevant provisions under other regulations of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
The two week-long training was facilitated by the Namibian Maritime and Fisheries Institute (NAMFI), a Trust of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, which provides training per the STCW 78/95 convention as well as the Namibian Merchant Shipping Act of 1951, particularly in the areas of education, training, and certification of Namibian seafarers under the guidance of the Directorate of Maritime Affairs (DMA) which is an IMO accredited authority.
The training took place this year from 07 – 11 November 2022 in Walvis Bay and from 21 – 25 November in Lüderitz.
The training forms part of a series of ILO initiatives to be undertaken in the establishment of a coordination mechanism amongst relevant authorities in the fisheries sector as per Article 7 of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188).
Through the training, stakeholders learned how to detect hazards onboard fishing vessels and to create a network system that will ensure effective communication and collaboration thereby increasing the integration of inspections of living and working conditions onboard fishing vessels. Additionally, the trainings highlighted the safety programs in the fishing industry, the causative factors of industrial accidents, the basic elements in safety management for accident control, and risk management. At the end of the course, trainees have been equipped with practical information on the implementation of the occupational safety and health provisions as indicated under Regulation 4.3 and relevant provisions under other regulations of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
The two week-long training was facilitated by the Namibian Maritime and Fisheries Institute (NAMFI), a Trust of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, which provides training per the STCW 78/95 convention as well as the Namibian Merchant Shipping Act of 1951, particularly in the areas of education, training, and certification of Namibian seafarers under the guidance of the Directorate of Maritime Affairs (DMA) which is an IMO accredited authority.
The training took place this year from 07 – 11 November 2022 in Walvis Bay and from 21 – 25 November in Lüderitz.
The training forms part of a series of ILO initiatives to be undertaken in the establishment of a coordination mechanism amongst relevant authorities in the fisheries sector as per Article 7 of the Work in Fishing Convention, 2007 (No. 188).