The Occupational Safety and Health Institute took the lead on this issue and did so by tackling two problems – improvement in productivity and reduction in hazardous work of children – with one solution. It designed a more ergonomic loom, which was the right size for adults, but not for children. With the new loom, experienced adult weavers could take over the work from the children, and could produce the more intricate designs that command higher prices. Each of the safety and health factors that made this work unsafe for youth of working age and unproductive for adults were then tackled, one by one. The Institute tested the new loom with 30 families, revised it, and then retested it, this time doing pre–post studies of workers’ health and checking the ages of the weavers. Within 18 months there was already a discernible downward trend in the health complaints. There were fewer injuries, due to the safety controls, and less stress, due to the comfortable seating position, improved lighting, dust control and ventilation. After the pilot-testing period demonstrated the advantages of the improved loom, the local government allocated funds to assist poorer families in acquiring the improved loom.
Leadership by employers
At the level of the individual enterprise – whether farm, office or workshop – the real key to protection of the adolescent worker is an employer who is aware and sensitized to occupational safety and health and who knows what is acceptable and not acceptable for a young worker to do. Risk assessment and risk reduction can transform hazardous work for the young worker into an opportunity for decent youth employment.
The formal and the informal economies used to be separate worlds – but that is changing. Businesses are subcontracting more and more of their work to independent producers, and employers’ organizations are lending a hand to informal enterprises in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and services.
At the global level, multinational enterprises have required their suppliers to improve labour practices and have negotiated global framework agreements with sectoral union federations to respect fundamental rights at work, including the elimination of child labour in their operations, supply chains or spheres of influence.
Reducing hazardous child work through workplace policies
Strategies aimed at improving the working conditions of youth workers include various types of protective measures: hours of work can be reduced; work at night or travel to and from work at night can be prohibited for youth under 18 years; workplace policies against harassment can be established and enforced; youth can be barred or protected from dangerous substances, tools or equipment; adequate rest periods can be provided; and so on.
The Occupational Safety and Health Institute took the lead on this issue and did so by tackling two problems – improvement in productivity and reduction in hazardous work of children – with one solution. It designed a more ergonomic loom, which was the right size for adults, but not for children. With the new loom, experienced adult weavers could take over the work from the children, and could produce the more intricate designs that command higher prices. Each of the safety and health factors that made this work unsafe for youth of working age and unproductive for adults were then tackled, one by one. The Institute tested the new loom with 30 families, revised it, and then retested it, this time doing pre–post studies of workers’ health and checking the ages of the weavers. Within 18 months there was already a discernible downward trend in the health complaints. There were fewer injuries, due to the safety controls, and less stress, due to the comfortable seating position, improved lighting, dust control and ventilation. After the pilot-testing period demonstrated the advantages of the improved loom, the local government allocated funds to assist poorer families in acquiring the improved loom.
Leadership by employers
At the level of the individual enterprise – whether farm, office or workshop – the real key to protection of the adolescent worker is an employer who is aware and sensitized to occupational safety and health and who knows what is acceptable and not acceptable for a young worker to do. Risk assessment and risk reduction can transform hazardous work for the young worker into an opportunity for decent youth employment.
The formal and the informal economies used to be separate worlds – but that is changing. Businesses are subcontracting more and more of their work to independent producers, and employers’ organizations are lending a hand to informal enterprises in agriculture, mining, manufacturing and services.
At the global level, multinational enterprises have required their suppliers to improve labour practices and have negotiated global framework agreements with sectoral union federations to respect fundamental rights at work, including the elimination of child labour in their operations, supply chains or spheres of influence.
Reducing hazardous child work through workplace policies
Strategies aimed at improving the working conditions of youth workers include various types of protective measures: hours of work can be reduced; work at night or travel to and from work at night can be prohibited for youth under 18 years; workplace policies against harassment can be established and enforced; youth can be barred or protected from dangerous substances, tools or equipment; adequate rest periods can be provided; and so on.
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