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FOURTH ITEM ON THE AGENDA

ILO projects and programmes concerning
occupational safety and health: A thematic evaluation

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Improvement of occupational safety and health: Strategies and impact

1. Training for capacity building
2. Dissemination of information and creation of networks
3. Elaboration of national policies and legislation

III. International labour standards and tripartism

IV. Concluding remarks

V. Lessons learnt

Appendix I

List of projects reviewed

Appendix II

Reference documents

I. Introduction

1. The theme of this paper was selected by the Officers of the Committee. The paper synthesizes the ILO's work in technical cooperation and assesses the strategies applied and their impact on the enhancement of occupational safety and health (OSH).

2. Four criteria were used for the selection of projects:

(a) the last evaluation report on the project was not dated earlier than 1990;

(b) the evaluation reports contained adequate and relevant information;

(c) the major geographical regions were represented by at least one project;

(d) the major donors were represented among the contributors of funds.

3. Out of a preliminary list of 18 projects, eight were retained for review in this paper. The final sample included one national and three regional projects for Asia, three regional projects for Africa and one regional project for Central America.⁽¹⁾  Of the 12 evaluation reports analysed for projects reviewed in this thematic assessment paper, eight were final and four interim reports. Of the final sample of projects, seven had been completed and one was still ongoing⁽²⁾  at the time of writing. The technical fields covered were working conditions, workers' education and labour administration. Appendices I and II contain lists of the projects reviewed and the reports from which the data and evaluative information were drawn.

4. The target groups of the projects comprised government officials, factory inspectors, safety inspectors, officials of national and central OSH information centres (CIS centres) and training institutions. Workers' organizations and their OSH representatives were also included, as were, to a lesser extent, employers' organizations and workers and employers at the enterprise level.

5. For ease of reference, the three action levels are defined in this paper as follows:

(a) macro: national policies and legislation;

(b) meso: supporting agencies and institutions, employers' and workers' organizations, training and educational institutions;

(c) micro: enterprise safety committees.

6. Among the projects under review, within the technical field of working conditions a single project generally targets all three levels. In contrast, workers' education and labour administration projects mostly target only the meso level.

II. Improvement of occupational safety and health:
Strategies and impact

7. Four main strategies have been identified as predominant in the ILO's work to enhance occupational safety and health (OSH). They focus on --

(a) contributing to national planning, elaborating national policies and the drafting and revision of legislation (macro level);

(b) strengthening institutional support and national infrastructures, such as CIS centres, labour inspectorates, workers' and employers' organizations (meso level);

(c) strengthening national education and training programmes on OSH (meso level);

(d) strengthening OSH structures, such as safety committees at the enterprise level (micro level).

8. The following means of action were selected by the projects for the implementation of the above strategies:

(a) training for capacity building;

(b) the dissemination of information and creation of networks for information exchange;

(c) the provision of technical advice in connection with the elaboration of national policies and legislation.

1. Training for capacity building

9. All of the projects under review chose training for capacity building as a means of action to strengthen national OSH capacity and infrastructures.

10. Two different approaches were adopted by the projects in the field of training: the training of trainers and the direct training of target groups. Most of the projects applied a combination of the two approaches.

Training of trainers

11. The training of trainers approach was adopted by the African regional project on safety and health⁽³⁾  for the training of labour inspectors on information and general OSH issues. The training was conducted at regional OSH workshops aimed at creating a network of competent trainers within the factory inspectorates of ministries of labour capable of conducting training at national level.

12. The Indonesian project⁽⁴⁾  organized training of trainers seminars on chemical safety and the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases. The aim was to train trainers who would be capable of implementing training programmes after the end of the project and hence ensure the sustainability of the project's results.

13. The Central American project⁽⁵⁾  trained a group of trainers consisting of representatives of national institutions (ministries of labour, agriculture, health and environment, social security institutions, employers' and workers' organizations and NGOs) as well as representatives of rural workers' associations at the local level. As a high proportion of occupational hazards among agricultural workers in Central America is due to exposure to agricultural chemicals, the project placed emphasis on an environment-oriented sustainable development approach to OSH in agriculture. Training programmes therefore included topics such as safety in the use and management of agrochemicals, alternative methods of pest control and environmental protection measures. The evaluation of the project found that, as a result of the project's training activities in Panama, agricultural producers who had actively participated in the project had ceased using the chemicals in question.

14. The workers' education project covering Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines⁽⁶⁾  trained a core of national educators to train plant-level trainers capable of conducting workshops on OSH for workers at the enterprise level. The training of trainers approach enabled the project to reach a far larger target group than would otherwise have been possible. Evidence collected in several enterprises showed that the project had succeeded in prompting many dormant safety committees to action and instigating the establishment of bipartite safety committees. It was also found that plant-level trainers played an important role in their capacity as officers of bipartite safety committees, and that they actively participated in the plant-level training of workers on OSH.

15. The workers' education projects in eastern and southern African countries and in India and Bangladesh⁽⁷⁾  applied the training of trainers approach in training union officials and workers' educators at regional workshops. The workshops were intended to enable them to provide educational support and advisory services to worker members of safety committees in enterprises and to run and evaluate OSH programmes at national and local levels. At the end of the project, the educators were reported to be running OSH training programmes in their respective unions. OSH issues had also been integrated into workers' education programmes in all countries participating in the projects. In addition, there had been an increase in the number of bipartite safety committees at the enterprise level in the countries covered by the African project.

Direct training of target groups

16. The Asian regional project⁽⁸⁾  applied this training approach in all of its training activities. The project trained safety auditing personnel, organized tripartite training workshops on general OSH issues to strengthen the national infrastructure on OSH, and provided training at the government level to strengthen national capacities in legislation, organization and policy planning and formulation.

17. The African regional project on safety and health⁽⁹⁾  trained labour inspectors in specific OSH subjects and representatives of employers' organizations in the development of safety management at the enterprise level using the concept of safety and productivity. Associating safety conditions to productivity gains attracted far more employers to the workshops than other projects providing training in safety management alone. Furthermore, the project provided training materials and advice to workers' organizations for the implementation of workers' education programmes. The training programmes were implemented by the trade unions themselves under the auspices of a Memorandum of Understanding between the project and the Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU). The evaluation found that the main trade unions in the countries covered by the project had integrated OSH issues into their workers' education programmes and that some had also established OSH working groups.

18. However, an assessment of the effects and impact of the specific technical training provided by the Asian⁽¹⁰⁾  and African⁽¹¹⁾  regional projects calls into question their sustainability, as the training programmes had been carried out without curriculum development. Furthermore, contact with universities and other educational institutions had been minimal, making it even more unlikely that the training results would be sustained.

19. In contrast, the Central American project⁽¹²⁾  closely involved the ministries of education and national training institutions in the development of training materials and curricula on OSH in agriculture for technical schools, thereby ensuring higher sustainability of the project's results.

20. In Indonesia,⁽¹³⁾  government safety inspectors, enterprise safety and medical officers, safety engineers, and workers' and employers' representatives were trained in chemical safety in ten regions. Within those regions a greater number of safety committees in chemical and related enterprises had adopted safety and health measures against hazardous chemicals in their regular activities by the end of the project. The labour inspectors, who prior to participating in the training activities had not undertaken inspections in chemical factories, were reported to be carrying out at least 1,000 inspections per year. Furthermore, both employers' and workers' organizations had begun organizing promotional activities on chemical safety and the prevention and elimination of major accident hazards, and producing and distributing information sheets and posters. The evaluation concluded that this evidence of change could largely be attributed to the project and that, consequently, the impact on the intended beneficiaries of the direct training component had been high. It was recommended that the project should be replicated in other sectors in order to generate a similar impact in a greater number of Indonesian enterprises.

21. The evaluation of the Indonesian project⁽¹⁴⁾  also found that, as a result of the project, the Indonesian National Safety Council was conducting training courses in chemical safety and major hazard control for enterprise officers and safety engineers using the training materials developed by the project. At the time of the evaluation, the Council had trained 214 participants, which increased the likelihood that the project results would be sustained.

22. The Central American project⁽¹⁵⁾  provided direct training to national and municipal government institutions and to the inspection services of ministries of agriculture, health, labour and social security, having had the effect of redefining the inspectors' role from one of enforcement to one of prevention. This not only opened the doors of a larger number of enterprises to the project, but also ensured greater response by the enterprises. A clear multiplier effect of the project's training activities was observed in Guatemala and Costa Rica, where trainees trained by the project had organized training sessions for the staff of their respective institutions.⁽¹⁶⁾ 

23. Furthermore, the project⁽¹⁷⁾  assisted in the establishment and training of the staff of national OSH coordinating institutions in Costa Rica and Panama. The evaluation found that one of the coordinating institutions, the Comisión Técnica Asesora del Consejo de Salud Ocupacional (COTASSO -- Technical Advisory Committee of the Occupational Safety Council), had prepared a national OSH plan involving representatives of the social partners.

24. The labour inspection project in Africa⁽¹⁸⁾  trained labour inspectors in new inspection methodologies, based on promotion rather than on threats of sanction, in the informal and agricultural sectors. One major constraint influencing the effectiveness of this training was the national authorities' resistance to changing the labour inspection system to include the informal and agricultural sectors. A similar situation was found in the African regional project on safety and health,⁽¹⁹⁾  where the lack of commitment from governments meant a shift in the project's original strategy from introducing new policies and reorganizing the labour inspectorates to focusing on the strengthening of existing structures.

25. The two workers' education programmes, covering a number of African⁽²⁰⁾  and Asian⁽²¹⁾  countries respectively, provided specific technical training on OSH to trade union representatives. The project in Africa⁽²²⁾  concentrated its efforts on training trade union officials at the national level to strengthen their capability to participate on national OSH committees. The most significant results were obtained in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, where growing awareness of occupational health and safety issues among workers, as well as increasing pressure for workplace committees to deal with OSH, had clearly emerged. Furthermore, unions were reported to have intensified their participation in OSH committees at the national level in these three countries.

26. These findings suggest that the project was most effective in countries with a strong trade union movement and, in addition, favourable national laws on OSH. This leads to the conclusion that one of the main external factors influencing the effectiveness of projects on OSH was the existence in national legislation of provisions for national tripartite and enterprise-level tripartite or bipartite safety committees.

27. The Asian project⁽²³⁾  also provided training at the enterprise level for bipartite safety committee members and plant-level trainers. At the end of the project, there was widespread institutionalization of safety committees, and physical improvements related to OSH had been made in some of the enterprises.⁽²⁴⁾  There were also clear indications that there had been a marked increase of OSH provisions included in collective bargaining agreements since the project was launched. In India, training was also provided to an existing training institution -- the Institute for Miners'and Metalworkers' Education (IMME) -- and to safety organizers/educators organizing special courses for safety committee members at its national education centre. Of the 21 safety courses organized by IMME using ILO project materials, only four were funded directly by the project. The fact of having externally funded training courses conducted by IMME had clearly enhanced the sustainability of the project's results and demonstrated the relevance of the project.

28. The African regional project on safety and health,⁽²⁵⁾  the workers' education projects in Bangladesh, India,⁽²⁶⁾  Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines⁽²⁷⁾  and the project in Indonesia⁽²⁸⁾  developed their own training materials, adapted them to local circumstances and translated them into local languages when judged necessary. In the two workers' education projects,⁽²⁹⁾  trade union officials participated in the production and/or revision of the materials. This participatory approach helped to create a strong feeling of ownership among the beneficiaries, encouraging the use of the materials after the end of the project and thereby contributing to the sustainability of the project's results.

29. The Asian regional project⁽³⁰⁾  found that the possibility for trade unions and employers' organizations to benefit from all the training materials and programmes was limited because they were in English. Several of the other projects opted to translate training materials into local languages, thereby reaching a larger target group.

30. The organizers of the regional project for Asia⁽³¹⁾  opted to use existing local training materials.

2. Dissemination of information and creation of networks

31. Another means of action adopted by the projects to strengthen national capacities on OSH was to ensure access to information and information exchanges between CIS centres, government agencies and institutions, employers' and workers' organizations and the general public.

32. The main target group for the creation of networks was the staff of the national CIS centres. In some projects, however, the networks also comprised training institutions, government agencies, national trade union safety and health coordinators and factory inspectors.

33. The majority of the projects had to create CIS centres. In other cases, existing institutions were strengthened with the aim of developing fully operational CIS centres. The latter acted as focal points for the exchange of information on workplace safety and health, provided effective inquiry services and disseminated information on OSH issues through training curricula and activities. In some cases, such as the regional projects for Africa and Asia,⁽³²⁾  regional networks were created comprising the national CIS centres. Both projects strengthened their activities at the regional level by publishing an OSH newsletter.

34. Information exchanges were both national and international: international through access to international databases on OSH, and national through the production and use of national statistics on OSH. The Asian regional project⁽³³⁾  assisted in the establishment of a variety of computerized databases containing national information on the registration of workplaces, chemical safety and hazardous substances, etc. The evaluation of the project concluded that national statistics for workplace registration, occupational diseases and accidents had been improved in a number of countries. However, in some of the other countries the need for better national statistics and records had been identified and agreed on with the national authorities.

35. A second aspect of information sharing and networking was the strengthening of the education and training services provided by the CIS centres. The aim of the projects was to establish units within the CIS centres capable of training and developing training curricula, as well as using basic and low-cost training methodologies. Some projects introduced the concept of modular training courses for curricula development on OSH information.⁽³⁴⁾  A training profile was developed for each institution and national and regional networks established.

36. A national network bringing together National Health and Safety Working Groups (NHSWGs) to strengthen workers' education and training was established by the project in selected southern and eastern African countries.⁽³⁵⁾  It enabled the unions to share their abilities to train and educate their members. The NHSWGs comprised representatives of national unions with specific responsibilities for OSH. A regional network of NHSWGs was also established. The project found that, by bringing together representatives of the national unions on a fairly regular basis, the NHSWGs were playing a valuable role in spreading awareness on OSH issues. As the NHSWGs were fully operational at the inception of the project, it was thought that the project's results would be sustained. At the regional level, the evaluation of the project concluded that the sustainability of the NHSWG network created by the project would depend on the availability of funds from national trade unions.

37. The African regional project on safety and health⁽³⁶⁾  created a network of factory inspectors capable of conducting training at the national level and exchanging information at the regional level. The evaluation of the project concluded that the sustainability of the regional exchanges of information depended on budgetary allocations from national authorities.

38. As a result of the Central American project,⁽³⁷⁾  coordination mechanisms were established between the various governmental sectors (health, social security, labour, agriculture, technical education and vocational training) in all of the countries participating in the project. This also included contacts with relevant NGOs. The continuation of the institutional mechanisms after the end of the project depended on the political will of the government concerned to maintain this cooperation. However, the evaluation had found no evidence of decisions or commitments by the competent authorities in any of the participating countries that would ensure the sustainability of the OSH activities.

39. Most of the CIS centres created or strengthened by the projects which chose the creation of networks and dissemination of information as a means of action, were fully operational by the end of the project. The centres had benefited from better access to more information on OSH through links to international databases, and were capable of using and disseminating the information. The centres were also handling a considerably larger number of requests and were circulating more information to national stakeholders than before. It was found, however, that the sustainability of the CIS centres depended on national budgetary allocations and on the priority attached by the government to OSH issues. The dissemination of information to individual enterprises by the CIS centres alerting them to the possibility of ISO accreditation of their products, was found to be effective in encouraging employers to adopt measures to improve OSH.

40. In Asia, where OSH had a high priority in most countries involved in the project,⁽³⁸⁾  the probability that the required local financing would be obtained was judged to be high. In the African regional project on safety and health⁽³⁹⁾  the priority given to OSH was found to be lower; as a consequence, the sustainability of the CIS centres was judged to be less certain.

41. The regional networks of CIS centres, especially in Asia,⁽⁴⁰⁾  were reported to be exchanging information on a much more regular basis than before.

42. Clearly, the commitment of national authorities is not only a prerequisite for the effectiveness of an OSH project, but it also has an influence on the sustainability of a project's results. It should therefore be a primary concern for projects to ensure such a commitment at the planning and formulation stages. Projects should not be undertaken unless such a commitment is obtained.

3. Elaboration of national policies and legislation

43. The assistance provided by the projects for the elaboration of national policies and the drafting of legislation was in all cases only one component of the project. The regional projects in both Asia and Africa,⁽⁴¹⁾  the national project in Indonesia,⁽⁴²⁾  the labour inspection project in Africa⁽⁴³⁾  and the Central American project⁽⁴⁴⁾  all helped governments identify priorities for OSH, establishing national policies and drafting new legislation. Furthermore, projects were involved in the elaboration of procedures and regulations within the general OSH legal framework. The project in Indonesia drafted regulations on major hazard control, and the Asian regional project assisted in the establishment of new safety auditing procedures.

44. The evaluations concluded that the projects in Asia⁽⁴⁵⁾  had succeeded in achieving the priority aim of a revised or new legislative framework, while those in Africa⁽⁴⁶⁾  had been less successful. A considerable number of countries in Asia had gone through the process of modernizing the regulatory framework. Experience from the projects in Africa showed that a strong commitment from national governments to change the regulations is a prerequisite for the success of a project targeting the overall national legislative framework on OSH. Strong commitment was however difficult to ensure, as the turnover of governments and ministry officials was relatively high.

45. The establishment of a Major Hazards Control Unit within the Department of Manpower and the introduction of new national policy and regulations in connection with major hazard control were among the key needs addressed by the Indonesian project.⁽⁴⁷⁾  Two major factors that hampered the effectiveness of the project were the relatively low priority attached to major hazard control by the Government, and the lack of any such control system within a well-established chemical safety system.

46. The long-term impact of a project's contribution to revised legislation and new policies is obvious. It provides the framework for greater acceptance of international labour standards, the restructuring of labour inspectorates and the creation of joint safety committees, all of which are crucial elements in improving working conditions at the enterprise level. It is, however, a process that takes time and the overall impact on the intended beneficiaries at the enterprise level can therefore be difficult to determine at the end of a project.

III. International labour standards and tripartism

47. All of the projects under review in the technical field of working conditions included tripartite activities. Several evaluations of these projects highlighted this aspect and concluded that, if projects were to succeed in improving OSH, governments, employers and workers must be involved in the activities.

48. At the tripartite national workshops organized by the Asian regional project⁽⁴⁸⁾  specific ILO Conventions were discussed and a coherent action plan for their application was prepared.⁽⁴⁹⁾  These workshops provided an opportunity for the social partners to work together and develop national OSH policies. The evaluation found that 11 countries participating in the project had revised or introduced new legislation and/or national policies on OSH by its end. Certain countries had also either ratified some of the Conventions addressed at the workshops or were considering their ratification.⁽⁵⁰⁾  Even if this result may not entirely be attributed to the project, it was concluded that the project had made an important contribution to it.

49. The African regional project on safety and health⁽⁵¹⁾  included workers' and employers' organizations in its training activities aimed at strengthening the tripartite OSH structure. Through the training workshops and assistance in the drafting of new OSH regulations the project carried out promotional activities for a number of ILO Conventions.⁽⁵²⁾  However, the evaluation of the project concluded that, due to the lack of government commitment in many of the countries, the tripartite discussions on OSH were unlikely to continue. Notable exceptions were found in Zimbabwe, Namibia and Mauritius, where discussions on OSH policy had started, new legislation had been planned and tripartite structures had been developed.

50. Both workers' and employers' representatives participated in the training seminars organized by the labour inspection project in Africa.⁽⁵³⁾  The information available for this assessment did not however indicate the extent to which the social partners had made use of the training they received.

51. The Indonesian project⁽⁵⁴⁾  focused on the promotion of the Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170) through its activities at all levels of action. At the enterprise level, the chemical safety training involved representatives of workers' and employers' organizations. Some in-service training for bipartite safety committees was also organized by the project at the enterprise level. The evaluation found that safety committees now included safety and health measures for hazardous chemicals in their activities. Increased awareness among workers' and employers' organizations could be verified through their organization of promotional activities on chemical hazards.

52. The Central American project⁽⁵⁵⁾  found that rural employers were not always adequately represented in national employers' organizations. For its tripartite training activities, the project opted to contact them directly and provided training to individual agricultural enterprises ⁽⁵⁶⁾  and rural employers' organizations in each productive sector. This resulted in the employers participating far more actively in the project's activities than would otherwise have been possible. The evaluation of the project found, however, that although collaboration between workers and employers in project activities was crucial in obtaining effective and sustainable results, it was not always easy to ensure.

53. The specific safety and health problems of agricultural workers are not yet comprehensively covered by the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155). However, the discussion of a proposed new Convention and Recommendation on safety and health in agriculture has been included in the agenda of the 88th Session of the International Labour Conference in 2000. The experience gained through the implementation of the Central American project -- the only project in the sample reviewed that dealt exclusively with OSH in agriculture -- has contributed substantially to the ongoing preparatory work for the proposed international standards.

54. The workers' education projects were found only rarely to include tripartite or bipartite activities, even where they had the establishment of bipartite safety committees as a priority concern. The target groups of these projects have traditionally been workers' educators, trade union officials and safety committee workers' delegates. However, the project covering Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines⁽⁵⁷⁾  provided bipartite training for safety committee members and strengthened cooperation with employers in order to obtain their support for the implementation of training activities.

55. The workers' education projects under review promoted international labour standards using the ILO's Working Conditions and Environment: A workers' education manual (1983). The manual includes references to the general provisions on OSH and to a large number of Conventions and Recommendations concerning specific risks⁽⁵⁸⁾  and industries.⁽⁵⁹⁾ 

56. The evaluation of the project in Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines⁽⁶⁰⁾  concluded that, for a workers' education project to be effective in establishing joint safety committees, the prevailing management structure must be fully associated with the project. Where the management culture was not favourable towards participation in such committees, the project was not likely to be successful. The evaluation therefore recommended that cooperation with employers should be emphasized in all future projects of a similar nature.

IV. Concluding remarks

57. The improvement of OSH conditions requires action at all levels -- through national legislation, with institutional support and in the enterprise. It is commendable that most of the projects under review targeted more than one action level in order to have the greatest possible impact on the intended beneficiaries. However, it must be noted that most of the activities were carried out at the macro and meso level and only a few addressed the enterprise or micro level.

58. As regards the effectiveness of the projects under review, it can be concluded that the training of trainers was an effective tool in strengthening national capacities and in reaching a far larger target group than would otherwise have been possible within the framework of a single project. Direct training of target groups was an effective method of testing training methodologies. Projects that successfully applied this approach should be replicated in other sectors and industries in order to reach a greater number of intended beneficiaries. The dissemination of information and the creation of networks also proved an effective means of action for awareness-raising and capacity-building purposes. The actual results of introducing new legislation, national policies and regulations depended to a large extent on the national government's commitment to change. As the commitment of national authorities is crucial to the effectiveness of OSH projects, projects should not be undertaken unless such commitment is ensured.

59. It can also be concluded that the projects had the greatest impact where tripartism was promoted and the social partners were involved in the project's activities. It is therefore crucial for future projects to include the greatest possible degree of tripartite activities in their programme if they are to be effective.

60. In addition to tripartism, it was also found that inter-sectoral cooperation was particularly important not only for safety and health in agriculture but also for the rural sector in general, as working and living conditions, the environment, incomes and natural resources are so closely interrelated that an integrated approach addressing occupational, public and environmental health issues is necessary. Such an approach should also be integrated into a rural development policy framework involving both large-scale enterprises, such as plantations, and small-scale farming.

61. The training of trainers approach is likely to lead to more sustainable results than direct training, except in cases where projects include activities for curriculum development in cooperation with universities and/or other training institutions. The sustainability of a project's results in relation to the dissemination of information and the creation of networks depended on obtaining the government's commitment to OSH to ensure the allocation of resources for the operation of CIS centres and to establish tripartite bodies and labour inspection services on OSH. National networks were more likely to endure than regional ones on account of the considerable funds required to administer the latter. The strength of the trade union movement in a country and the provision in national legislation for bipartite safety committees on OSH were found to be key factors influencing the likelihood of a project's success and the sustainability of its results.

62. During the period under review, Asia experienced rapid economic and industrial growth with a high incidence of reported industrial accidents. As a consequence, governments began to attach higher priority to OSH. All projects undertaken in Asia were therefore highly relevant. This finding, however, raises the more fundamental question of how to prevent suffering and deaths when OSH has not yet received high priority at the national level.

63. The evaluation reports covering the African projects concluded that the lack of adequate OSH legislation and infrastructures, the introduction of new technologies and the establishment of export processing zones were at the heart of the priority needs of the participating countries. The growing attention from organizations such as SATUCC⁽⁶¹⁾  and OATUU to OSH issues further increased the relevance and sustainability of workers' education projects. However, the evaluations also noted that the lack of commitment on the part of many governments to OSH issues imposed severe constraints on the relevance and sustainability of projects in general.

64. Only a few evaluation reports included an adequate analysis of the efficiency of the projects, i.e. a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether the costs incurred justified the results obtained. However, regional projects were found to be more efficient when the headquarters were located in the regions rather than in Geneva.

65. As a result of this assessment three important issues with regard to regional projects should be borne in mind when designing new projects on OSH:

• Limiting the number of countries in a regional project should ensure greater effect and impact in each country.
• When determining the impact of a regional project at the country level, it is imperative to define objectives and indicators of achievement for each country, as specific needs may vary.
• Locating a regional project's headquarters in the region increases the recipient countries' commitment to the project, resulting in greater likelihood that the project's results will be sustained.

V. Lessons learnt

66. The following lessons can be drawn from this thematic evaluation:

• The success of workers' education assistance projects on OSH depends on the strength of the recipient trade union organizations and the trade union movement in general in the countries concerned.
• Associating safety conditions to productivity gains in training workshops attracts far more employers to the workshops than when training is organized on safety management alone.
• When training is chosen as a means of action, projects should to the extent possible establish links with universities and/or other training institutions for the purpose of future curriculum development on a sustained basis.
• If a workers' education project is concerned with establishing bipartite safety committees, it is crucial to take into account the national legislation and management culture. In such cases, future projects should place greater emphasis on joint activities with employers aimed at ensuring their positive attitude and strong support for the committees.
• Trade unions at local and enterprise level are more likely to place OSH high on their agendas than national trade union federations, as they are faced with hazards and diseases in an everyday context. One way of ensuring that national trade union centres give higher priority to formulating OSH programmes and policies is for workers' education projects to include a component sensitizing them to the issues.
• Training materials should ideally be adapted and translated into local languages to ensure that the project reaches a larger target group.
• The aspiration of employers to ISO accreditation serves as a powerful incentive for them to improve OSH measures in their enterprises.
• Major hazard control should be developed on an already well-established and functioning chemical safety system, thereby ensuring that the necessary infrastructure for performing major hazard control is in place.
• When the labour inspectors' role is one of prevention rather than enforcement, employers are more likely to be inclined to cooperate with them in improving safety measures.
• National workers' education programmes on OSH issues increase workers' awareness and put pressure on enterprises for bipartite safety committees in the workplace.
• If OSH projects restrict their activities to the meso or macro levels, then their impact will be limited, as the OSH improvements are most needed at the workplace. Future projects should include activities dealing with joint safety committees and the training of their members at the enterprise level.

Geneva, 12 February 1999.

Appendix I

List of projects reviewed

1. INS/88/M01/FRG: Republic of Indonesia: chemical safety and major hazards control.
2. INT/89/M16/FIN: African safety and health project -- Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
3. RAF/92/M24/AUT: Formation des inspecteurs du travail dans le cadre d'une politique nationale du travail au Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda, Sénégal.
4. RAF/91/M22/NOR: Workers' education assistance in OSH to workers' organizations in selected eastern and southern African countries -- Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
5. RAS/93/M03/DAN: Workers' education assistance to trade unions in selected Asian countries -- Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.
6. RAS/90/M17/FRG: Workers' education assistance on OSH and E issues to workers' organizations in selected South Asian countries -- India and Bangladesh.
7. RAS/90/M12/FIN: Asian-Pacific programme on OSH - Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Fiji, the Territory of Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam.
8. RLA/93/M03/DAN: Proyecto promoción de la seguridad y la salud del trabajo en la agricultura en America Central - Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras.

Appendix II

Reference documents

• African safety and health project (Training and information); evaluation report, Helsinki, 1995, 55 pp. and annexes (INT/89/M16/FIN).
• African safety and health project (Training and information); draft project final report - the progress of the project and self-evaluation, Geneva, 1994, 36 L. and annexes (INT/89/M16/FIN).
• African safety and health project (Training and information); interim evaluation worksheet, progress analysis and report, Geneva, 1993, 38 pp. (INT/89/M16/FIN).
• Asian-Pacific programme on occupational safety and health; chief technical adviser's final report, Geneva, 1998, 30 L. and annexes (RAS/90/M12/FIN).
• Asian-Pacific programme on occupational safety and health; mid-term evaluation report, Helsinki, 1995, 48 pp. and annexes (RAS/90/M12/FIN).
• Chemical safety and major hazards control (Indonesia); terminal report, Geneva, 1992, 26 pp. and annexes (INS/88/M01/FRG).
• Formation des inspecteurs du travail dans le cadre d'une politique nationale du travail au Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda, Sénégal; rapport final, Geneva, 1998, 10 L. (RAF/92/M24/AUT).
• Workers' education assistance to trade unions in selected Asian countries; report of the final evaluation; Geneva, 1996, 35 L. and annexes (RAS/93/M03/DAN).
• Workers' education assistance in occupational health and safety to selected southern and eastern African countries; final evaluation report, Geneva, 1996, 14 L. (RAF/91/M22/NOR).
• Workers' education assistance in occupational health and safety to selected southern and eastern African countries; self-evaluation report, Harare, 1995, 12 L. (RAF/91/M22/NOR).
• Workers' education assistance on occupational safety and health and environmental issues to workers' organizations in selected South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh); draft final evaluation report, Geneva, 1994, 12 L. (RAS/90/M17/FRG).
• Workers' education assistance on occupational safety and health and environmental issues to workers' organizations in selected South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh); mid-term evaluation -- self-evaluation, Geneva, 1993, 14 L. and annexes (RAS/90/M17/FRG).

1. Two of the regional projects in Asia, RAS/93/M03/DAN and RAS/90/M17/FRG, only covered three and two countries respectively. One of the regional projects in Africa, RAF/92/M24/AUT, initially covered four countries but, because of civil war in Rwanda and Burundi, this number was reduced to two.

2. RAS/90/M12/FIN: Asian-Pacific programme on OSH. The project was extended on a reduced budget until the end of 1999.

3. INT/89/M16/FIN: African safety and health project (17 countries in Africa). At the planning stage this project represented one component of an interregional project. Before the start of implementation it was decided, however, to split the interregional project components into separate regional projects. The African project kept the original project number.

4. INS/88/M01/FRG: Chemical Safety and Major Hazards Control, Indonesia.

5. RLA/93/M03/DAN: Proyecto promoción de la seguridad y la salud del trabajo en la agricultura en America Central (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, Honduras).

6. RAS/93/M03/DAN: Workers' education assistance to trade unions in selected Asian countries (Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines).

7. RAF/91/M22/NOR: Workers' education assistance on OSH in selected southern and eastern African countries; RAS/90/M17/FRG: Workers' education assistance on OSH to workers' organizations in selected South Asian countries (India and Bangladesh).

8. RAS/90/M12/FIN: Asian-Pacific programme on OSH (20 countries in Asia).

9. INT/89/M16/FIN.

10. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

11. INT/89/M16/FIN.

12. RLA/93/M03/DAN.

13. INS/88/M01/FRG.

14. INS/88/M01/FRG.

15. RLA/93/M03/DAN.

16. Social Security Institute of Guatemala (IGSS) and the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica.

17. RLA/93/M03/DAN.

18. RAF/92/M24/AUT: The implementation of labour inspection offices in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Rwanda and Senegal.

19. INT/89/M16/FIN.

20. RAF/91/M22/NOR.

21. RAS/93/M03/DAN.

22. RAF/91/M22/NOR.

23. RAS/93/M03/DAN.

24. It was found that national laws in Asia to a greater extent than in Africa include provisions for the establishment of tripartite/bipartite safety committees at the enterprise level.

25. INT/89/M16/FIN.

26. RAS/90/M17/FRG.

27. RAS/93/M03/DAN.

28. INS/88/M01/FRG.

29. RAS/90/M17/FRG and RAS/93/M03/DAN.

30. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

31. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

32. INT/89/M16/FIN and RAS/90/M12/FIN.

33. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

34. As in the case of both the African and Asian regional projects.

35. RAF/91/M22/NOR.

36. INT/89/M16/FIN.

37. RLA/93/M03/DAN.

38. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

39. INT/89/M16/FIN.

40. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

41. RAS/90/M12/FIN and INT/89/M16/FIN.

42. INS/88/M01/FRG.

43. RAF/92/M24/AUT.

44. RLA/93/M03/DAN.

45. RAS/90/M12/FIN and INS/88/M01/FRG.

46. INT/89/M16/FIN and RAF/92/M24/AUT.

47. INS/88/M01/FRG.

48. RAS/90/M12/FIN.

49. These included the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155); Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985 (No. 161); Safety and Health in Construction Convention, 1988 (No. 167); Chemicals Convention, 1990 (No. 170); Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174).

50. At the inception of the project Conventions Nos. 155, 161, 167 and 170 had not been ratified by any of the countries covered by the project. At the time of writing the evaluation report, Mongolia and Viet Nam had ratified Convention No. 155 and China Convention No. 170.

51. INT/89/M16/FIN.

52. All the ILO Conventions listed in footnote 49, except the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174).

53. RAF/92/M24/AUT.

54. INS/88/M01/FRG.

55. RLA/93/M03/DAN.

56. Chiquita Banana Company, United Fruit Company, Del Monte.

57. RAS/93/M03/DAN.

58. Toxic substances, machinery, maximum weight, air pollution, noise and vibrations.

59. Building industry, bakeries, commerce and offices, dock work and social services, housing and leisure.

60. RAS/93/M03/DAN.

61. Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC).