Staff from the Ministry of Development and Institutional Reform (MDIR), Ministry of State Administration (ESTATAL), and private contractors participated in the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Capacity Development Trainings held in two regions of Timor-Leste: Dili and Bacau. A total of 120 participants attended trainings in Dili (20-21 March) and Bacau (3-4 May).

MDIR-Directorate of Roads, Bridges, and Flood Control (DRBFC)’s Training and Cooperation Department designed and led the trainings with technical support from Roads for Development Support Programme (R4D-SP), which is funded by the Government of Australia and managed by the ILO. R4D-SP focuses on providing technical support to strengthen the capacities of government and private sector stakeholders.

The main goal of the training was to strengthen the capacity for the implementation of an OSH management approach in rural road rehabilitation and maintenance. Therefore, the trainings were designed for MDIR officials involved in the enforcement of OSH legislation, as well as managers, contractors, supervisors and technical staff in charge of OSH within rural road rehabilitation and maintenance. The trainings were interactive and participatory and provided an opportunity for participants to share OSH knowledge and experiences

In Dili, the training was opened by the National Director for Department of Roads, Bridges and Flood Control (DRBFC), Sr. Milton Ramata de Castro Monteiro. In his remarks, he discussed the importance of OSH in rural roads construction and extended his appreciation of the funding and technical support from the Australian Department of Foreign AID and Trade (DFAT) to strengthen capacity of the Government on R4D implementation. In Bacau, the training was opened by the Baucau Municipality President, Sr. Antonio Augusto Guterres. He expressed his unwavering support to improving safety and well-being of workers in rural road development.

At the end of the training, the participants reflected on the content and discussions of the workshop and raised the following issues for consideration in improving OSH implementation on government-funded projects:

• The MDIR training department should consider further trainings aimed at addressing the determinants of behaviours to non-adherence to OSH guidelines particularly the use of protective health equipment.
• The MDIR at both national and Municipality level to work very closing with the Planning and Management Unit and the Secretary of State for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (SEGIS) during budgeting and planning processes to guide a Municipality level gender sensitive budget and annual work plan.
• To improve the adherence to OSH guidelines and minimize accidents on site, the MDIR should provide adequate road signage for both national and rural roads. Currently the Municipalities have inadequate road signage, specifically along road works.
• MDRI officials and Community Development Officers can strengthen the inclusion of people living with disabilities in rural road works through close collaboration with the Asosiasaun Defisiénsia Timor-Leste (ADTL) and Ra'es Hadomi Timor Oan (RHTO) at subnational level to identify and mobilise the inclusion of people living with disabilities.
• MDIR to collaborate more with the Secretary of State for Youth and Labour (SSYL) on labour inspection, particularly on R4D compliance, monitoring and reporting processes.
• At the end of the trainings, most participants rated the trainings favorably and reported improved OSH knowledge.

The trainings were closed by the Chief of Projects Department, Sr Joan Mario Gam de Sousa in Dili and the DRBFC Director in Bacau, Sr Pedro Alexandre.