Background and justification

Because OSH practice is poor in the region there are many potential opportunities for high impact interventions to improve working life and to demonstrate the value of healthy work. These interventions would be most valuable in industrial sectors that are most hazardous, are growing rapidly and that have the least developed OSH services, namely large long-term construction sites, small scale mining enterprises, agricultural areas with intense use of pesticides and enterprises in free trade zones.

Regional OSH resources are limited, however, so it is necessary to make the most of them by targeting the most appropriate workplaces and by identifying model or pilot sites for exemplary interventions that will serve as positive case studies. Reliable information about the options for interventions is needed to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, this information does not exist in the region in any systematic way so active steps are needed to obtain it. This information will be collected in Phase I and will be used to plan coming phases of the Programme.

Phase I of the Programme will not be able to optimally address critical issues related to ethnicity, gender, migrancy, poverty and age because the data required to properly plan interventions coherent with existing activities are not available. Information should therefore be collected to be used for the integration of these issues with the activities of Phase II.

Objective

Inventories to be the base for further project planning, for SADC countries, in the following sectors:
- high risk industries and / or technologies
- large long-term construction sites
- small scale mining enterprises
- agricultural areas with intense use of pesticides
- enterprises in free trade zones

Indicators for objectives attainment

At least 8 national inventories are compiled (when appropriate) for:
- 3 high risk enterprises
- 1 large long-term construction site
- 2 small scale mining enterprises
- 2 agricultural areas with intense use of pesticides

At least 3 national inventories are compiled for the enterprises in one free trade zone.

The inventories are ready before the end of the third project year, including the number of employees; information about gender, age incl. child labour; migrancy; production type and volume; ownership; main OSH problems of each enterprise, and to what extent management agrees to solve these problems.

Activities

- The inventories will be designed in agreement between the Regional project director, the resource complexes and SADC
- The inventories will be compiled by the Regional programme director and his / her staff with the assistance of the resource complexes using a wide range of data sources, including SADC Directorates information, labour inspectorates, government trade and industry datasets and statistical agencies of SADC countries
- Sites for interventions in the second phase of the programme will be selected

Target groups

The initial target group is the team implementing this Programme including SADC structures and participating organisations. Secondary target groups are all occupational health and safety agencies in the region, and later the industries from which model sites are selected