IOSH
IOSH in action
Tackling risk in rural Africa
It shouldn’t matter where you work or what you do. You should expect to go home unharmed. Sadly, this is not the case for many – especially women in emerging economies in the informal sector. That's why we're working with our global partners to improve conditions for women in four hard-to-reach communities, with the ultimate aim of saving lives.
Supporting workers in Ghana and Kenya
We've identified and chosen to support four projects that we believe will help workers at risk of chronic harm. We've established what interventions are needed to mitigate occupational safety and health (OSH) risks.
We know we need to move quickly – very sadly, two of the women we spoke to are no longer with us. This brings home the human cost of poor working conditions on workers' physical and mental health.
We also know these better ways of working will protect and save lives, as well as help the women increase productivity, product value and their earning potential.
Next step is to galvanise support from those who can fund these changes.
To achieve our goals, we're working with the International Labour Organization, International Social Security Association, Commonwealth Business Women Africa, Department of Occupational Health and Safety Services Kenya and Ministry of Labour Relations Ghana. Special thanks to Chris/Lumiere films and Nana/CBW-Africa.
This is very much the start of the journey. We're documenting our progress, starting with a video depicting our engagement to date with each community. Check out the four projects below, read our latest news article, and keep your eye out for updates over the coming months.
Shea butter production forms the basis of work for the women in North Ghana. The end product is a high-value range of oils, used as an ingredient in cooking and in the beauty industry. But the women retain little of its value. Many are unfit to work by the time they reach their 40s because of heat exposure and musculoskeletal disorders – but continue to do so with significant injury or illness.
The highly skilled textile weavers of North Ghana work as individual home workers, with few – if any – occupational safety and health safeguards in place. They produce highly desirable products yet make very little money. And musculoskeletal disorders are common, damaging young people’s bodies in their physically formative years.
"There is a very real human angle to this. Two of the individuals we interviewed for this project are now no longer with us because of the dangers they faced on a daily basis."
Duncan Spencer CFIOSH
- Job role
- Head of Advice and Practice
- Company
- IOSH
These women sit in the middle of a value chain in Kenya. They buy fish from men, process it and then sell it on to end consumers via male agents. By handling the fish, they can suffer significant workplace harm, such as fish spike injuries to hands and feet. Debts mount up when they can't work, leaving them to make very difficult decisions to survive.
The Masai women of East Kenya are experiencing extremely tough lives. They had to leave their traditional industries because of a three-year drought, and the only outlet for them is to scavenge for rocks in the waste of the quarries. For a 10-hour rock sifting day, they earn at most $1. The work is tough and labour intensive and death in the quarries is common.
Why these projects? Why now?
Our strategy, Activate 2028, is all about action – to deliver a safe and healthy world of work for everyone.
We work with our strategic partners to identify how we can help in-country. We work at global level, through national leaders and local institutions to deliver high-impact projects on the ground. Our video explains all about this 'golden thread'.
As well as supporting these communities directly, the projects also offer an opportunity to better understand compounding risk factors these workers face. These include the informal economy, gender equality, agricultural work, garment industries and remote rural locations. This understanding will strengthen and inform our policy positions, so we can continue to address the workplace issues that contribute to ill-health, injury and death.
This work also contributes to five of the United Nations' Social Sustainability Goals.
