Improving Occupational Health & Safety 2006

While Vietnam has a broad legal framework for labour protection, there remain inadequacies to deal with current issues.

Programs on occupational health and safety (OH&S) need to be expanded and employers often do not understand the importance of OH&S and environmental protection (EP) in the workplace. The capacities of OH&S workplace officers are still very limited.

Since 1993, Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has coordinated projects with the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL) in the sectors of OH&S and EP, policy development, vocational training, HIV workplace education and capacity building for trade unions. Recently, APHEDA worked with the VGCL's National Institute of Labour Protection (NILP) to implement two projects on OH&S in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This project was designed to raise awareness of OH&S issues in workplaces throughout the two largest cities in Vietnam and to directly improve the current OH&S situation in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

This project's objectives were to:

1. Raise employers' awareness on conditions of health and safety, OH&S laws and related regulations, and corporate social responsibilities in garment and consumer goods enterprises in the non-state sector.
   
2. Train 200 workers and employers on OH&S standards and safe practices within the workplace.
   
3. Strengthen local trade unions' understanding of OH&S conditions for workers in SMEs.

The OH&S project by APHEDA and NILP is an important step in increasing accountability and awareness among employers and employees in an environment where OH&S concerns were traditionally dismissed, downplayed or unknown. Through the strategies that APHEDA has utilised in this project local authorities have been trained in identifying OH&S issues and teaching fellow Vietnamese about OH&S obligations. Dozens of employers have been trained in OH&S and hundreds of employees have had their knowledge about OH&S rights and obligations improved. Through a capacity building approach, APHEDA is helping develop local mechanisms, authorities and experts who can disseminate OH&S information and promote new policies and procedures.

To achieve its overall goals the OH&S project undertook the following steps:

• The establishment of a project management board of 10 members to represent the NILP and the Confederation of Labour to plan, implement, monitor and report on the project and to ensure that outcomes are taken up within other sectors of the NILP and Confederation of Labour.
• Designing workplace survey forms to obtain detailed information, both through questionnaires and direct observation, on OH&S, corporate responsibility and the productivity of the company.
• The preparation of separate training curriculum on OH&S, corporate responsibility and the work environment for the employers and employees in the garment-textile-footwear industry.
• The development of posters and leaflets to promote the awareness of OH&S and EP.
• The training of trainers (whose selection criteria include being in charge of OH&S programs, having five years experience working in the field and being assigned for the next round of OH&S training in their respective organisation).
• The running of five training workshops for 200 workers and employers from 75 enterprises on OH&S
• The organising of two seminars to follow up the training courses in the workplaces for evaluation, and
• A study visit to workplaces in Thailand to give ten trainers the opportunity to compare and learn about OH&S issues in other places.

Project Achievements

The project formally concluded in late December 2006, and the project stakeholders have been very positive about the results.

• The project trained 180 workers and employers as resource persons on OH&S standards and safe workplace practices.
• The project printed 4000 pamphlets, posters and brochures on OH&S, EP, 1000 more than the target.
• 70 people participated and shared there experiences at seminars and workshops, just short of the target of 80.
• 76 enterprises were reached by the OH&S training and information material, just above the target of 75.
• And 21 lecturers and trainers from NILP were trained and had their OH&S knowledge and skills improved through specific programs, above the target of 20.

This project, while just falling short on a couple of targets managed to surpass expectations in other areas. It represents a good opportunity to follow up on some of the lessons learnt throughout the project and extend on the foundations of knowledge, skills and initiatives in improving OH&S in as many companies as possible.

APHEDA's OH&S project in small and medium sized enterprises has been able to reach hundreds of employees and employers. It has assisted them in being able to identify OH&S risks, to be actively involved in evaluations of their workplace environments and made people aware of their rights and obligations in two of the possibly most dangerous factory settings in Vietnam. By assisting local government and trade union departments to grow, develop, educate and increasingly implement procedures for accountability in OH&S, APHEDA is continually seeking to establish an environment where OH&S issues are at the forefront of workplace relations.

© Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA 2003.
Site proudly produced by Social Change Online

Last Modified: Wednesday, 21-Mar-2007 11:41:06 EST
This page: http://apheda.org.au/projects/vietnam/pages/1174430430_24560.html