Introduction
Cambodia has been grappling for many years with
the challenge of improving its occupational safety and
health (OSH) conditions. There remains an urgent need
to raise the country's OSH standards. The country's
political stability and economic development over the
past decade have created favourable conditions for the
Government to now move forward.
The Department of Occupational Safety and Health
(DOSH) is responsible for improving the OSH
conditions. However, it is a relatively new department,
and most employees lack a formal postgraduate degree
in OSH or skills in management training.
Development of the OSH master plan
To confront the situation, the Cambodian Government
wants to evaluate its OSH issues and needs. That
evaluation will help identify clear and measurable goals
and thus lead to a strategy that takes a longer-term view
of the issues in order to meet those goals. To better
develop and orchestrate these critical elements with
a clear vision, the Government first step has been to
develop an OSH Master Plan of Cambodia 2009–2013.
Creating the master plan involved joint effort from
various ministries within the Government. The
International Labour Organization (ILO) provided