Occupational Health Promotion in the Informal Jua Kali Sector
Project Type
Occupational safety and health promotion for workers in the informal sector
Background information
A project focusing on the prevention of exposure to high noise among metal workers in the informal sector was conducted in 2022. This project provided a good opportunity to understand the organisation, work methods and challenges of the informal sector. The project showed that the workers in the informal sector are willing to learn and understand how to implement and manage the safety and health paradigm. However, there has not been any communication or any type of information sharing from any hold on occupational health and safety for the benefit if the workers in the informal sector.
Project Description
The project can be put into two main parts:
- OSH training arrangements for the informal sector
This part of the project concerns OSH information campaigns targeting different work groups in the informal sector. The content of the campaigns would be to engage and involve OSH professionals to visit different informal sector worksites and educate the workers on health and safety concerns associated with their work, and how to work safely,y reducing exposure levels of the workplace hazards. Since most of the workers in the informal sector have no access to formal OSH, it would be useful to take the training to them and focus on the risks of the work they do. This would enable comprehension of the practicality of preventing exposure to workplace hazards.
- Follow-up of the earlier project on noise prevention
The intention is to buy noise protection devices for more metal workers as a follow-up to the earlier project on noise reduction. In the earlier project, it was apparent that there were more workers who needed protection than was anticipated. Therefore, there is a need to provide more protective devices cover a larger number of those who previously did not have them.
Practical phases of the project
Site visits and training delivery throughout 2023
- Liaison with different informal sector groups to agree on the training program.
- Design strategies and timelines for worksite visits and training.
- Short training for the OSH professionals as preparation for worksite visits.
- Teams visiting the worksite for training and information dissemination.
- After project meetings to share experiences
Project evaluation, January-March 2024
- Interviews with a few of the workers on their new experiences following the capacity building exercise.
- Post project site visit to follow up on the implementation of risk management measures
Project Implementation site
Informal sector station in Mombasa, Kenya.