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On the eve of Workers' Day, our TV screens are still screening reports of bodies and severely injured factory workers being pulled out of a collapsed building in Bangladesh. As the building housed garment factories, the majority appear to be women - and today there was a 16 year old who had to make the choice of having her hand cut off so that they could save her.
"2 million workers killed every year." That is the sub-title of the International Labour Organization (ILO) report issued on World Day for safety and health at work 28 April 2013 under the title The Prevention of Occupational Diseases.
However, far more workers are affected by diseases that impair their lives and cause far more deaths than industrial accidents.
In any country where mining features so prominently we can expect South Africa to have its fair share of pneumoconioses, silica and asbestos-related cancers, silico tuberculosis - all diseases associated with great suffering.
But the more advanced economies now have a new range of disorders related to the technologies used - electromagnetic radiation, musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs)- and in all economies experiencing recession, the poor economic conditions result in amongst others: high retrenchments, and greater stress on those remaining.
Globalisation, outsourcing and increased casualisation and informalisation of work mean that people work for shorter periods and most of the occupational diseases related to inhalation have a long "latency" period - they take a long time to show up.
The report mentions South Africa a number of times - for collection of relevant information, including prevention in their OSH policies, and strengthening the inspectorate.
In a section entitled The role of employers and workers, the report highlights a broad range of responsible persons - including workers and their organisations - and the role of training.
The report is worth reading to gain some idea of the magnitude of the problem globally and to put South Africa in context. Most importantly to remind us all of our educational and training roles in occupational health and the prevention of occupational disease.
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