OISS and INSHT analyse the link between informal labour and the rate of occupational accidents in Latin America

Within the framework of the Latin American Occupational Health & Safety Strategy, the Latin American Organisation for Health & Safety and the Spanish government’s Institute for Safety and Hygiene at Work (INSHT) brought out a publication entitled "Una mirada a las condiciones de trabajo de algunos colectivos especialmente vulnerables" (An overview of the working conditions of certain particularly vulnerables categories of workers).

The publication forms part of the Latin American Occupational Health & Safety Strategy 2010-2013 and sets out a range of scenarios illustrating the link between informal labour and the rate of occupational accidents; it focuses on categories of workers particularly at risk, such as factory workers, workers involved in harvesting coffee, bananas and sugar cane, healthcare professionals and rural workers in general.

In his conclusion, ISCOD Director José Manzanares sets out the trade union view of the reality in Latin America and of the progress made in terms of occupational health & safety in recent years thanks to the work of trade union and social organisations and supported by the ISCOD via a range of projects and cooperation agreements. The article is entitled “Economía informal, Seguridad Social y salud laboral en América Latina y Caribe: experiencias sindicales de cooperación” ("The informal economy, social security and occupational health & safety in Latin America and the Caribbean: Trade union experience in cooperation") and includes, amongst other information, the conclusions of the XII ISCOD-UGT-CSA Trade Union Meeting, entitled "Trabajo y Seguridad Social en América Latina" (Labour and Social Security in Latin America) and held in Madrid in 2009, within the framework of the activities of the 2008-2011AECID-ISCOD Trade Union Cooperation Agreement.

View online or download(available in Spanish only).

Carlos Javier Santos García, Programme Coordinator for the Latin American Occupational Health & Safety Strategy, says: "The only way we can make solid and sustainable progress in this area is if all stakeholders affected by occupational accidents and diseases join forces and work together to combat the problem". In his view, and despite the fact that social dialogue needs to be expanded and firmly established in Latin America, Mr Santos García says that one of the values "which has already taken root via the strategy has been the social dynamic of debate around the latter’s content and the contributions made by governments and social partners – both employers and trade unions – in creating that dynamic".

The article by José Manzanares can be viewed online (available in Spanish only)

The publication is available on the INSHT website (available in Spanish only).

Communication Section. ISCOD Technical Office. Madrid, 20 February 2012