This presentation will share highlights from a current, one-year training project focused on building health and safety capacity among workers and community organizations in Hong Kong/southern China. The project has been organized by the Asia Health and Safety Training Project, a partnership between the Maquiladora Health and Safety Support Network, the Labor Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley, and Dara O�Rourke, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The southern China training project brought together three distinct constituencies: a working group of Hong Kong and China-based non governmental organizations (NGO�s); representatives from brand-name international shoe factories and their local subcontractors running large factories in the industrialized Guangdong province in southern China; and occupational health professionals from the United States. These participants agreed to jointly conduct and evaluate a pilot, four-day health and safety training at a 13,000 worker shoe manufacturer in Summer, 2001. Training participants included shop floor-level workers, supervisor/managers, and staff and volunteers from the participating NGO�s in Hong Kong and China. Participating organizations also committed to providing six months of follow-up technical assistance and support for department-level health and safety committees within key areas of the factory. This presentation will discuss the project�s activities, results and impact to date, including lessons learned which are applicable to other parts of the world. See www.lohp.org
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to: 1.) Describe health and safety issues facing workers in brand name international shoe factories in Southern China; 2.) Discuss key steps involved in creating successful partnerships among diverse groups.
Keywords: Occupational Health, Asian and Pacific Islander Women
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: N/A
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.