Review of Occupational Health and Safety Organization in Expanding Economies: The Case of Southern Africa

Background: Globally, access to occupational health and safety (OHS) by workers has remained at very low levels. The organization and implementation of OHS in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana has remained at suboptimal levels. Inadequacy of human resource capital, training, and education in the field of OHS has had a major negative impact on the improvement of worker access to such services in expanding economies. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana have expanding economies with active mining and agricultural activities that pose health and safety risks to the working population. Methods: A literature review and country systems inquiry on the organization of OHS services in the 4 countries was carried out. Because of the infancy and underdevelopment of OHS in southern Africa, literature on the status of this topic is limited. Results: In the 4 countries under review, OHS services are a function shared either wholly or partially by 3 ministries, namely Health, Labor, and Mining. Other ministries, such as Environment and Agriculture, carry small fragments of OHS function. The 4 countries are at different stages of OHS legislative frameworks that guide the practice of health and safety in the workplace. Inadequacies in human resource capital and expertise in occupational health and safety are noted major constraints in the implementation and compliance to health and safety initiatives in the work place. South Africa has a more mature system than Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. Lack of specialized training in occupational health services, such as occupational medicine specialization for physicians, has been a major drawback in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. Discussion: The full adoption and success of OHS systems in Southern Africa remains constrained. Training and education in OHS, especially in occupational medicine, will enhance the development and maturation of occupational health in southern Africa. Capacitating primary health services with basic occupational health knowledge would be invaluable in bridging the current skills deficit. Introducing short courses and foundational tracks in occupational medicine for general medical practitioners would be invaluable

Bus accident severity and passenger injury: evidence from Denmark

Purpose Bus safety is a concern not only in developing countries, but also in the U.S. and Europe. In Denmark, disentangling risk factors that are positively or negatively related to bus accident severity and injury occurrence to bus passengers can contribute to promote safety as an essential principle of sustainable transit and advance the vision “every accident is one too many”. Methods Bus accident data were retrieved from the national accident database for the period 2002–2011. A generalized ordered logit model allows analyzing bus accident severity and a logistic regression enables examining occurrence of injury to bus passengers. Results Bus accident severity is positively related to (i) the involvement of vulnerable road users, (ii) high speed limits, (iii) night hours, (iv) elderly drivers of the third party involved, and (v) bus drivers and other drivers crossing in yellow or red light. Occurrence of injury to bus passengers is positively related to (i) the involvement of heavy vehicles, (ii) crossing intersections in yellow or red light, (iii) open areas, (iv) high speed limits, and (v) slippery road surface. Conclusions The findings of the current study provide a comprehensive picture of the bus safety situation in Denmark and suggest the necessity of further research into bus drivers’ attitudes and perceptions of risks and road users’ perceptions of bus operations. Moreover, these findings suggest the need for further training into bus drivers’ hazard recognition skills and infrastructural solutions to forgive possible driving errors

Review of Occupational Health and Safety Organization in Expanding Economies: The Case of Southern Africa

oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/52509BACKGROUND Globally, access to occupational health and safety (OHS) by workers has remained at very low levels. The organization and implementation of OHS in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana has remained at suboptimal levels. Inadequacy of human resource capital, training, and education in the field of OHS has had a major negative impact on the improvement of worker access to such services in expanding economies. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana have expanding economies with active mining and agricultural activities that pose health and safety risks to the working population. METHODS A literature review and country systems inquiry on the organization of OHS services in the 4 countries was carried out. Because of the infancy and underdevelopment of OHS in southern Africa, literature on the status of this topic is limited. RESULTS In the 4 countries under review, OHS services are a function shared either wholly or partially by 3 ministries, namely Health, Labor, and Mining. Other ministries, such as Environment and Agriculture, carry small fragments of OHS function. The 4 countries are at different stages of OHS legislative frameworks that guide the practice of health and safety in the workplace. Inadequacies in human resource capital and expertise in occupational health and safety are noted major constraints in the implementation and compliance to health and safety initiatives in the work place. South Africa has a more mature system than Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. Lack of specialized training in occupational health services, such as occupational medicine specialization for physicians, has been a major drawback in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. DISCUSSION The full adoption and success of OHS systems in Southern Africa remains constrained. Training and education in OHS, especially in occupational medicine, will enhance the development and maturation of occupational health in southern Africa. Capacitating primary health services with basic occupational health knowledgewould be invaluable in bridging the current skills deficit. Introducing short courses and foundational tracks in occupational medicine for general medical practitioners would be invaluable.http://www.journals.elsevier.com/annals-of-global-healtham2016School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH