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July,
2001
LOHP
Staff Train Workers
in China
Street
scene in Guangdong Province
In the summer of 2001, LOHP staff participated in a ground-breaking
health and safety training project inside a 13,000-worker sports
shoe factory in Dongguan City, China.
The
four-day training was designed to build the capacity of workers
and supervisors to set up and maintain effective health and safety
committees in their plants. Those attending included workers, supervisors,
and managers from three factories in Guangdong Province; staff of
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Hong Kong; several trainers
from the U.S.; and labor practices personnel from adidas, Reebok,
and Nike.
The
project grew out of the work of the Maquiladora Health and Safety
Support Network. Since 1993, the Network has conducted health and
safety training for community organizations doing work in plants
in Mexico. In June, 2000, the Network's new Asia Health and Safety
Project, funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, trained
trade unionists and NGO representatives in Indonesia. (Click
here to see earlier story.)
The
2001 China training team included Betty Szudy and Pam Tau Lee of
LOHP, MIT professor Dara O'Rourke, Network Coordinator Garrett Brown,
and two staff members of the Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology (HUST) occupational health and safety program. Other
instructors included a physician from a Chinese occupational health
institution and a NGO representative from Hong Kong.
To
prepare for the new training project, Szudy and Brown traveled to
Hong Kong and China in December, 2000 and again in March, 2001 to
conduct a needs assessment with all participants.
Following
the China training, staff will provide a six-month period of technical
assistance to the plant committees. A final evaluation and report
on the project will be produced in early 2002.
Details
of the project are available in a Memorandum of Understanding, signed
by all participants, which is posted on the Network's website at
www.igc.org/mhssn.
LOHP
developed this curriculum binder for the China training. These materials
are being produced in Chinese as well as English.
Indonesia
Follow-Up
In
the spring of 2001 in Jakarta, Indonesia, Szudy and Brown conducted
a follow-up evaluation with 18 of the 32 participants involved in
the 2000 training there. Several of the unions and NGOs have undertaken
new projects since the original training. For example, the SBSI
trade union published 5,000 copies of an 80-page booklet on workplace
health and safety, based on materials from the training.
In
early 2002, Szudy, Brown, and LOHP's Diane Bush will conduct a follow-up
training with participants from the first Jakarta course. They will
also provide technical assistance to those participants who plan
to conduct their own training sessions.
For
more information, contact Betty Szudy at LOHP. Phone (510) 642-5507
or e-mail bszudy@berkeley.edu.
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