ILO and Labour Ministry call for Improved Health and Safety at Work

(ILO Cambodia) Monday, April 30th will see a large-scale event take
place in Kampong Som city, Sihanoukville Province to mark this year’s
National Day for Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). The Ministry of
Labour and Vocational Training (MoLVT) with the support of the
International Labour Organization (ILO) will organize the event on the
theme of Promoting Safety and Health in Small and Medium Enterprises as
an effective measure to promote safe and healthy workplaces.

Occupational Safety and Health is a serious issue in Cambodia. More than
1,500 persons in the Kingdom die each year as a result of work-related
accidents, equivalent to four persons a day. Another 3,000 people
contract work-related diseases every year. This is the seventh year that
Cambodia has observed OSH Day and this year’s event is set to be the
largest observation that the country has had to date. It has been
designed to highlight the human and economic cost of preventable
workplaces accidents, injuries and illnesses, both in the Kingdom and
across the globe.

Some 600 representatives of government, employers, trade unions and
hundreds of workers will take part in the morning-long activities which
will start with a march. Participants will carry specially-printed flags
with the campaign theme, placards and banners with hundreds of posters
and flags brandished to the ceremony venue where there will be a keynote
address on the by H.E Dr. Vong Sauth, Minister of Labour and Vocational
Training and will encompass speeches by esteemed guests such as H.E Mr.
Sbong Sarath, Governor of Preah Sihanoukville Province, Mr. Jiyuan Wang,
Director, ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR, Dr.
Leng Tong, Director of OSH Department, MoLVT, in addition to
representatives from Cambodian Trade Unions and the employers’
organization. The day’s events will also see a safety show put forward
vital messages directed at workers and employers on how to ensure the
utmost safety in the workplace, this will touch on the key OSH issues
faced by Cambodia such as hazardous work. The OSH Day proceedings will
come to a close with a release of balloons.

“World Day Occupational Safety and Health plays an important role in
reminding employers and workers of the need
to prioritise health and safety in order to have a healthy and
productive workplace. The Royal Government of Cambodia has been working
to educate and train working Cambodians across the country’s industries,
especially high risk occupations on how to ensure they take every
available safety precaution to keep injury and illness free while at
work. At the same we are conducting inspections and creating standards
to give incentive to employers to fully invest in OSH” said Dr. Leng
Tong, Director of OSH Department, MoLVT.

“It is vital that we take heed of the fact that insufficient
occupational safety and health mechanisms can have a devastating impact
in human and economic terms. It is the poorest and least protected-
women, children and other vulnerable groups who are often among the most
affected by work-related accidents and diseases” said Mr Jiyuan Wang
Director, ILO Country Office for Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR.

He continued: “We at the ILO have long encouraged employers to ensure a
preventive safety and health culture at the workplace stressing that
Decent Work is safe work. Ignorance of and incompliance with OSH
regulations are not only bad for workers but also bad for business.”

The Cambodian theme of promoting OSH in small enterprises compliments
the global theme which is Green jobs: promoting safety and health in a
green economy. This looks at the close relationship between a safe and
healthy working environment and the protection of the general
environment. The celebration also comes in conjunction with. the
International Commemoration Day for Dead and Injured Workers on April 28
to honour the memory of victims of occupational accidents and diseases
and International Labour Day which marks the economic aFor more information please contact:
Mr Tun Sophorn, ILO Joint Projects Office tun@ilo.org, Tel: (855) 23 220
817
Dr Leng Tong, Director, Occupational Health Department, MoLVT
lengtongpachem@gmail.com, Tel (855) 023 883170; 883180