Improving Occupational Safety And Health In The Garment And Construction Supply Chains In Madagascar – A Vision Zero Fund Project – Phase II

Background

The Vision Zero Fund (VZF) is part of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Flagship programme Safety + Health for All. In Madagascar, VZF aims to reduce occupational accidents and diseases in order to promote safer and healthier textile and construction supply chains. Nearly 381,000 workers in these two sectors are expected to benefit from the project's interventions in its second phase.

During the Phase I (2017-2019), the project mainly conducted interventions to promote occupational safety and health in the lychee supply chain in Madagascar.

Objectives and expected outputs for the phase II

The main objective of the project in the second phase is to sustainably reduce work-related accidents and illnesses in order to create a culture of prevention in the supply chains in Madagascar.


In the textile sector:
  1. Strengthened global, regional and national enabling environments for the promotion of safe and healthy working conditions in the textile
  2. Improved legal and policy frameworks to promote and enforce OSH protection, prevention and compensation in the textile
  3. Increased application of effective OSH prevention, protection and compensation mechanisms for women and men working in the textile
In the construction sector:

  1. Safety and health of construction workers in Madagascar is improved.
  2. National frameworks are strengthened to address OHS deficits and enforce standards in the construction sector (including in the informal economy).
  3. Mechanisms to improve OHS on construction sites are strengthened, including in the informal economy.
Component on Covid-19 response at the workplace:
  1. Prevention of exposure to Covid-19 and its transmission in the workplace
  2. Ensuring that policies are in place for COVID-19 and future epidemics
  3. Providing support to workers and their families through the employment injury insurance system

Methodology

The project is implemented using the ILO's approach and intervention tools developed for improving occupational safety and health in global supply chains.
  • At the global level, the project works with multinational enterprises with operations and/or sourcing in Madagascar to improve their OSH policies and practices throughout their supply chains.
  • At the legislative and institutional levels, the project is working to ratify and effectively implement ILO Core Conventions Nos. 155, 161 and 187 on OSH; to improve coordination between the various institutions in charge of promoting OSH; and to strengthen the capacity of social partners to promote OSH. The project also works to facilitate access to occupational health services for workers in the informal economy and to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspectorate to promote compliance and enforce labour laws.
  • At the workplace level in the textile and construction sectors, the project will promote the implementation of OSH management measures in the workplace; support and train employers (including cotton plantations in the case of textile) in the implementation of prevention measures.

Stakeholders and beneficiaries

The direct target groups are the Ministry in charge of Labour, employers' and workers' organizations respectively, other technical ministries (industry, agriculture, public works, health, education, etc.), parliamentarians, members of the judiciary (especially magistrates), multinational companies, schools and training centres, and journalist networks.

The project will contribute to capacity building in occupational safety and health for these different groups of actors.