Simple, low-cost ways to improve safety and health in small enterprises - Participatory training guide for employers, workers and trainers

Employers and workers in small enterprises need simple, practical methods to improve safety, health and productivity together. They are busy and often have only limited resources. The ILO’s participatory approaches meet their needs and are widely used in small enterprises in India and other South Asian countries.

1. Participatory training to improve safety and health by simple, low-cost methods

Figure 1 shows a before-and-after-improvement example of safety and health from a small enterprise in Afghanistan. Figure 2 shows a small enterprise in India that has added a machine guard for safer work. Figure 3 shows that all chemical containers should have lids and labels. There are many other simple, low-cost ways to improve the safety, health and efficiency of your workplace.

This guide shows how to organize and conduct participatory safety and health training activities for small enterprises. The ILO has conducted many training-of-trainer workshops with small enterprises. If nobody in your workplace has been trained as a trainer yet, seek the cooperation of the ILO, or the government and employers’ and workers’ organizations that have the participatory trainers in safety and health.

Figure 1. Remove unnecessary materials from the floor and secure clear transport ways.

Figure 2. Attach a guard to any dangerous, moving parts of the machine.

Figure 3. Provide lids and labels to all chemical containers and store them in a safe place.

2. Preparing a participatory training workshop

Before the training, walk around your workplace and find and take photos of good examples of safety and health. Refer to Table 1 for a list of areas where such examples can be found. You may also wish to visit neighbouring enterprises to gather their good examples. These good examples should then be compiled into presentation materials for the participatory training. There arefive practical areas for improvements: (1) materials storage and handling, (2) workstations, (3) safe use of machinery, (4) physical environment (lighting, ventilation, heat, hazardous substances, etc.), and (5) welfare facilities. The ILO’s Global WISE (Work Improvement in Small Enterprises) Training Manual provides numerous good examples. Please visit Global Manual for WISE - Work Improvements in Small Enterprises | International Labour Organization.

Table 1. Five areas for practical safety and health improvements

The number of training participants should not be too many - generally, between 20 and 30 people when several enterprises participate in the training together. If your enterprise is the only one, the number of participants can be smaller. A suitable location for the training is a meeting room within the enterprise for easy participation of workers and employers. Tables in the training room should be arranged in a U-shape or islands. This can facilitate active discussions in small groups. A classroom style setting should be avoided.

3. Workplace visits and the use of the WISE action checklist

Figure 4 shows the steps of the participatory training. In the first step, all participants visit their workplace and fill out the ILO WISE action checklist. Figure 5 shows a sample section of the WISE action checklist. The WISE action checklist consists of 33 items, covering the five improvement areas mentioned in Table 1. Each item is accompanied by a low-cost good practice picture. For example, the action checklist item 3 of Figure 3 is: ‘‘Use carts, hand trucks, rollers, and other wheeled devices when moving materials.’’ Participants are asked to decide for themselves whether this improvement action is necessary or not and fill in either ‘’No’’, ‘’Yes’’ or ‘’Priority’’. In this way, each of the 33 items is checked by the participating workers and employers while observing the workplace.

Figure 4. Steps of a participatory training workshop.

Figure 5. Sample page of the WISE action checklist that assists you in finding low-cost solutions. An entire action checklist is available on page 8 of the Global Manual for WISE - Work Improvements in Small Enterprises | International Labour Organization

4. Learning from good practices and group discussion

After the workplace visit with the action-checklist application, the trainer presents many pictures of simple, low-cost good examples and provides tips for implementing improvements. Then group discussion among participating workers and employers will follow to discuss and identify three good points and three points to be improved in their workplace. Participants look at the results of their action checklist which they just filled, exchange ideas with other participants and summarise their proposals for improvement. Employers and workers, including women and men from all groups, should actively discuss and propose improvements together.

In the participatory training, trainers do not lead but rather facilitate and support the discussion of improvement proposals by participating workers and employers. The trainers may include ice-breaking games related to safety and health improvements. It is also a good idea to display local good example photos in the training room and encouragethe participants to select the simplest, most inexpensive and cleverest improvement examples. In conjunction with the participatory training activities, it is highly recommended to establish an employer-worker safety and health committee in your workplace and hold a meeting every month to discuss safety and health improvements.

5. Follow-up activities for continuous improvements

Follow-up meetings among training participants or follow-up visits to their workplaces should be held a few months after the training. This will allow for the sharing of insights on the improvements made by the participants and the discussion of subsequent plans. WhatsApp groups of the training participants can be set up to share the improvement photos and experiences. The participatory occupational safety and health training can be carried out repeatedly at the initiative of the workplace safety and health committee of your company.

The participatory safety and health training starts with improvements that can be done at a low-cost by learning from locally available good examples. The training has helped many employers and workers in small enterprises and the informal/unorganized sector workplaces. It is hoped that the participatory training methods focusing on simple, low-cost improvements will be widely applied in more workplaces and industries in South Asia.

Training prepared by:

Tsuyoshi Kawakami

Senior Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health and Labour Inspection

ILO South Asia Decent Work Technical Assistance Team, New Delhi

[email protected]