Proceedings of the 42nd WEDC International Conference

Tools to institutionalize effective OHS along the sanitation chain

As the momentum to achieve SDG6 builds, the working conditions and safety of formal and informal workers along the sanitation chain are in danger of being overlooked, particularly in LMICs. This event will underline that providing city-wide improved sanitation services cannot compromise sanitation workers’ health and dignity; service providers must proactively mitigate against and reduce the risks to their staff; legislation, regulations, guidelines and other tools can institutionalise effective health and safety (OHS) along the sanitation chain.

This event, which will take the format of presentations, breakout group sessions and a panel discussion. The objectives of this event are:

• To share initial findings from a review of sanitation OHS instruments in a live presentation
• To invite participants to share their own OHS instruments and discuss good practice and implementation challenges in a panel discussion
• To identify OHS gaps and types of work that are overlooked or unacknowledged in policies, legislation and regulation in breakout groups

The outcomes of this event will be:

• Participants have a better understanding of international OHS standards and labour rights, and examples of effective national/local standards
• Participants are more aware of how to translate OHS instruments from paper to (good) practice
• Discussion from this event will contribute to an online toolbox of existing OHS instruments