Training kicks off Safety Week |22 November 2011

Present at the ceremony were International Labour Organisation (ILO) senior specialist Frank Muchiri, executive secretary of the Association of Seychelles Employers Gilbert Sultan-Beaudouin, secretary general of the Seychelles Federation of Workers Union Antoine Robinson, representatives from occupational safety and health from different local organisations and other guests.
 
The launch ceremony was followed by the opening of a three-day national tripartite sensitisation workshop on the ILO’s occupational safety and health conventions.

Ms Confait said the safety week is organised by the employment department in collaboration with other partners to promote and develop an occupational safety and health culture at work.

She said this year the organisers have adopted the theme chosen by ILO for Safety Day which is Occupational Safety and Health Management System: A tool for continual improvement.

“The theme focuses attention on occupational safety and health policy as well as legislation which provides methods for managing risks at work, enforcement and preventive measures through efficient processes,” she said.

Mrs Confait added that the main aims of the workshop are to educate people on occupational safety and health practitioners as lead agents, on the provisions of the ILO occupational safety and health conventions 152 on dock work, convention 155 on accident prevention and convention 161 on occupational health services.

She also urged all the workshop delegates to engage in the deliberations, make effective use of the opportunity and to learn as much as they could about the ILO standards and instruments on occupational safety and health for application in their respective workplace.

Mrs Confait also spoke about the amount of progress monitored in relation to occupational safety in Seychelles since the introduction of safety and health week here in 1999.

She also said among some of the progress was that provisions under the Seychelles Decent Work Country Programme was adopted to develop preventive policies and programmes to protect vulnerable workers and support workers infected with HIV/Aids and occupational diseases.

Mr Muchiri stressed the importance of spreading awareness on the value of occupational safety and health among local organisations and added that since all countries are at different levels of development and changes are continually taking place in the working environment, the conventions being discussed will cater to any issues which may arise.