EABC ICASA Satellite Session

Title: Overcoming inaction in workplace HIV and TB control – Integration into Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) as a path to greater ownership and sustainability

Abstract

Key words: HIV control, TB control, Workplace, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), industry-specific approach

Authors: Nderitu A¹, Chipfakacha Dr. V², Awinja L³, Fischer J⁴, Papkalla U⁵, Rudner D⁶

Background: Economic integration in Africa will result in increased regional trade and growing numbers of mobile populations. Several industries in Eastern and Southern Africa - among them tourism and road transport - play a significant role in cross-border trade. These industries face the challenge of managing employee health in general, and a high vulnerability to HIV- and TB transmission in particular. In the past decade, parallel structures have been set up in countries and in companies to deal with HIV and AIDS at the workplace and occupational safety and health (OSH). While the OSH duties of employers are regulated, HIV control in the workplace is not. HIV workplace programmes did usually not respond to companies’ needs for promotion of additional safety and health issues which often are industry-specific. Employers have not yet sufficiently acknowledged employee health as a productivity factor belonging to their overall quality management. For these reasons, employers’ support of HIV workplace programmes has levelled off; many policies and programmes have become inoperative. To overcome this inaction in workplace HIV and TB control, new efforts have to be undertaken to increase ownership and sustainability of interventions supporting workers’ health.

Approach: The East African Business Council (EABC) and the SADC HIV/AIDS Unit contributed to the development of industry-specific approaches of integrating HIV and TB control in occupational safety and health. Vehicles of this approach are quality initiatives of the East African hotel industry (EAC-wide) and the Southern African road transport industry initiated as a self-regulation process to improve the overall quality of services. By developing quality standards and accompanying implementation guidelines on health, associations and companies are enabled and encouraged to participate in the process and better organize their HIV- and TB-management as part of overall OSH measures. At the same time, this process transfers the voluntary nature of disease control at the workplace into a more mandatory approach and allows for better monitoring, also through external structures such as industry assessors.

Method: For the development of guidelines a) for the East African hotel industry and b) for the Southern African road transport industry along the North-South Corridor a consultant team conducts interviews with representatives of all relevant stakeholders at national level (employees, employers and government structures) on the recommended standards. This serves to assess the feasibility of the recommendations and to adapt the guidelines to the workplace environment. The investigation will be accomplished by September 2011.

Results: Through their activities, EABC and SADC AIDS Unit sensitized companies and associations for the idea to participate in a quality improvement initiative, which integrate HIV- and TB-control in OSH standards. All companies are obligated to comply with the national OSH regulations. By participating in the self-regulation process of industries, companies are enabled to adhere to the legislative requirements and gain reputation as their overall services quality is improved.

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¹ , ³ East African Business Council (EABC)

² Southern African Development Community (SADC), HIV/AIDS Unit

⁴, ⁵ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), Support of the Private Sector in Africa to fight AIDS (SPAA) Project

⁶ GFA Consulting Group