Promoting OSH culture in domestic work

Most people may think that home is the safest place, but in fact there are many hazards and risks posed by domestic environment. These hazards and risks include, among others, case of fire, food poisoning, chemical substances, accidents and so forth.

News | Jakarta, Indonesia | 29 April 2016
Most people may think that home is the safest place, but in fact there are many hazards and risks posed by domestic environment. These hazards and risks include, among others, case of fire, food poisoning, chemical substances, accidents and so forth.

As part of the efforts to widely promote decent work for domestic workers, the ILO has developed a practical, easy-to-apply checklist to guide domestic workers and their employers in improving working conditions in domestic environment called Work Improvement in Domestic Environment (WIDE). The checklist applies a participatory method based on self-help voluntary actions. The method helps both workers and employers carry out immediate improvements using locally available resources.

The WIDE checklist consists of eight areas that are relevant to the improvement of work conditions in domestic environment: 1. Material handling and storage; 2. Design work station; 3. Machine/tool safety; 4. Physical environment; 5. Social welfare and work organization; 6. Wages and benefits; 7. Communication and rights for success; and 8. Situation of child domestic worker.

The first of its kind, the WIDE checklist was jointly developed by the ILO’s OSH experts, labour inspectors of the Ministry of Manpower, domestic workers’ organizations, recruitment agencies, employers of domestic workers and domestic workers themselves in 2015. To ensure the application, the checklist was piloted in Malang and Surabaya, East Java Province. In these pilot areas, the participating domestic workers were trained on how to use the checklist using a participatory action oriented training (PAOT), combining a classroom training with a practical exercise at home facilitated by an OSH facilitator.

They were then assigned to identify three good working conditions and three points for improvement. At the end of the training, each participant, supported by the employers, was given two months to improve their workplaces by submitting before and after photos.

“Domestic workers who understand OSH will also work more effectively and this will benefit both workers and employers. They will understand that messy electricity cables will be dangerous and they will be responsive, for example when they see puddle that can be a medium to spread disease,” said Arum Ratnawati, Chief Technical Adviser of the ILO’s Project on Domestic Workers.

“We touch chemical substances almost every day and I do not know the details of the danger. I clean up the bathroom using chemical substances. I also deal with electricity almost every day. Thus, it is important for us to learn about safety and health related to our work,” said Santy, a domestic worker who joined the workshop in 2015.

The WIDE initiative was conducted by the ILO through its Promoting Decent Work for Domestic Workers to End Child Domestic Work (PROMOTE) Project. Funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL), PROMOTE Project aims at reducing child domestic workers significantly by building institutional capacities of partners to promote Decent Work for Domestic Workers (DWDW) effectively. The Project works to increase the knowledge, skills and expertise on reducing child domestic workers and promote DWDW.