It is about 9:30 am, when Trieu Thi Chau, the manager of Binh Minh Coffee Cooperative in Dak Lak Province, is welcoming a group of 20 people from the private sector and NGOs who are participating in a training on improving occupational safety and health (OSH) in coffee cultivation and processing. The training is organized by the ILO Vision Zero Fund, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Global Coffee Platform Viet Nam.

For the next two hours, the group will visit the cooperative’s in- and outdoor workspaces to identify good OSH practices, OSH hazards and risks, and solutions for improvement. While training participants are well familiar with how coffee is grown and processed, OSH is still a new topic for most of them.

The group is joined by Consul General of Germany to Viet Nam, Josefine Wallat, and Gabriele Weinhold from the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, for who a coffee farm visit, explained “through the lens of OSH”, is also a new experience.

“I am impressed by the practical and specific advice the seminar gives on all aspects of coffee production. It shows how vital simple steps, such as proper protective clothing or the safe handling of materials, can help avoid severe accidents,” says Wallat, who, in discussion with participants, also shows a special interest in sustainable, organic farming practices.

Gaining practical insight into workplace safety and health issues is also appreciated by Weinhold.

“I am enthusiastic about the project and the training. To identify concrete safety risks and good practices in the coffee farm we visited, participants used a checklist with many illustrations, which seems to be very effective. Everyone participated actively in this exercise. As future OSH trainers, participants were able to take away many good ideas on how to avoid accidents at work and increase productivity through small, low-cost changes,” she says.

After the cooperative visit, participants share with Chau their observations.

“The feedback I received from group members is very helpful,” she says. “In this training, participants work together to identify solutions for OSH problems, share experiences and learn from each other. I will use the outcome of our discussions to develop an OSH improvement action plan for our cooperative. My priorities are to make the storage space for working tools safer and protect our members better against accidents and injuries during the coffee harvest by investing more in PPE. All members of Binh Minh Cooperative should come to work without having to worry about safety and health risks”.



The Vision Zero Fund is part of Safety & Health for All, an ILO Flagship programme building a culture of safe, healthy work. By mobilising governments, employers, workers and the private sector in communities and countries around the world, the Vision Zero Fund aims to build sustainable, safe and healthy supply chains.

The Vision Zero Fund project in Viet Nam focuses on improving OSH in the coffee supply chain. It is financed with a contribution from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development.