Many workers at grassroots levels, particularly informal economy workers are difficult to
access to adequate occupational health services. Typical informal economy workplaces are home
manufacturing workplaces, street vending, transportation services, waste collection,
unregistered small construction sites or small rural farms. In South Asia, as an example, a
large number of workers find their jobs in informal economy workplaces. According to the ILO
statistics, 83.6% of workers in India, 78.4% in Pakistan and 62.1% in Sri Lanka are in
informal employment1). The government
statistics seldom capture their work-related injuries and diseases and the victims do not
receive compensation and proper treatment when having injuries or diseases.Owners and workers in small businesses and informal economy workplaces need practical
measures for improving occupational health that can work in their real settings. For this
purpose, the participatory, action-oriented training methodologies have been gaining momentum
and been widely used for helping varied small workplaces in different industries and
targets2). Action-checklists with good
example illustrations have been used as a key training tool for assisting the participating
workers and employers in identifying the safety and health risks in their workplaces and
finding simple, low-cost solutions. Common technical areas of their immediate improvements
have been materials handling, workstation designs, machine safety, working environments,
welfare facilities and work organizations.The participatory, action-oriented training approaches are closely linked to the realization
of ILO Standards in occupational safety and health (OSH). ILO Safety and Health Convention (No
155, 1981) defines that employers have the main responsibilities for creating safe and healthy
working environments. Worker participation is a key requirement of the ILO OSH Standards.
According to ILO OSH Management System Guidelines, known as ILO OSH-2001, employers need to
ensure that workers and their safety and health representatives are consulted, informed and
trained on all aspects of OSH. The participatory, action-oriented approaches provide practical
opportunities of promoting worker participation and bringing workers’ voices to improve
OSH.How can we bring the participatory, action-oriented training to the unreached workers?
Experiences have been accumulated. In the Mekong Delta area of Vietnam, a participatory OSH
training workshop for farmers was organized in a community hospital 30 min away by car from
the participants’ village. The foreign organizers expected the equal participation of women
and men farmers to the training. However, no women farmers came to the training because of the
distance and their busy household work. After consultation with local people, the next
participatory training was carried out in a temple located within the walking distance of
villagers. Many women farmers came and participated actively3). A small change made a big difference.Owners and workers in small, informal businesses have to handle a number of functions
simultaneously in their workplaces and have no luxury to leave their workplaces for
participating in a long training workshop. A possible solution was that occupational health
practitioners and trainers visit target workplaces and organize a short training workshop
there. Recent ILO participatory training workshops for the sport goods manufacturing sector in
Pakistan4) and for the tea plantation
sector in Sri Lanka have also been conducted in the workplaces. Workers and owners, including
women workers in small workplaces had easy access to the training, and their active
participation was materialized. In Senegal in the western Africa, an ILO project has worked
with female tannery workers who were in difficult social conditions. Local occupational safety
and health practitioners visited their workplaces and facilitated interactive discussions for
improvements. The participating female tanners spoke out their ideas and gained greater
self-confidence for protecting themselves from the safety and health risks associated with
their work5).We, occupational health specialists and researchers need to accelerate our efforts to reach
the unreached workers and workplaces for supporting their safety and health improvements. Keys
to practical solutions are to focus on local needs and learn from local initiatives and good
practices.
Disclaimer
The opinions and assertions contained within this article are those of the author and
should not be construed as representing those of the International Labour Office.