IOSH support for African workers recognised with awards

The most recent was the Continental Impact Award, presented to IOSH in an awards ceremony at the AfriSAFE congress in Livingstone, Zambia on 07–08 November.

This followed an International CSR Award being presented at the recent SOWSHE-A (Society of Women in Safety, Health and Environment – Africa) conference in September and the ISSA (International Social Security Association) Good Practice Award Certificate of Merit.

Meanwhile, at the AfriSAFE event, IOSH’s Head of Strategic Engagement Alan Stevens was presented with an individual award to recognise his work to raise standards in African workplaces both during his time with IOSH and before.

Working together

IOSH has been collaborating with partner organisations to support workers who are at risk of chronic harm in rural parts of Ghana and Kenya. It identified shea butter farmers, textile weavers, fishmongers and quarry scavengers as being in significant need of intervention. IOSH has worked with ISSA, the International Labour Organization, Commonwealth Business Women Africa, Department of Occupational Health and Safety Services Kenya and Ministry of Labour Relations Ghana to bring about change.

Alan continued: “We are delighted that our work has been recognised with these awards. It demonstrates that what we are doing is having an impact. And we are determined to continue having an impact, to ensure people in these communities can earn a living without being put at risk.”

Work to support the communities began last year when IOSH’s members and health and safety professionals on the ground in Ghana and Kenya conducted risk assessments of the current conditions faced by the workers.

Progress

This has already led to progress towards helping some of the workers, including the formation of a co-operative, Lana Empire Africa, in Ghana. The co-operative contributed to bringing the women working with shea butter and the textile weavers into the formal economy. This means their work is regulated to the extent which they could sell their produce officially to international buyers at higher prices and in much greater volumes.

Meanwhile, land has been secured at Kajiado near Nairobi, Kenya, to enable the quarry workers to grow crops and work safely on the production of their highly-prized beadwork in a workshop that will also act as a shop for tourists in the area.

“But the work doesn’t stop here,” added Alan. “We need to keep on striving to make work safe and healthy across Africa and around the world.”