Affiliations: ILO Subreigonal Office for East Asia, Bangkok,
Thailand | Department of Occupational Health and Safety, Ministry
of Labour and Vocational Training, Phnom Penh, Cambodia | ILO Informal Economy, Employment, and Poverty
Reduction Project, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Dr Tsuyoshi Kawakami, ILO
Subregional Office for East Asia, 11{th} Floor, United Nations Building,
Rajadamnern Nok Street, Bangkok 10200, Thailand. Tel.: +66 2 2881743; Fax: +66
2 288 3058; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: Objective: The present study aimed to improve safety and health in
informal economy workplaces such as home workplaces, small construction sites,
and rural farms in Cambodia by using "participatory" approach. Methods and Participants: The government, workers' and employers'
organizations and NGOs jointly assisted informal economy workers in improving
safety and health by using participatory training methodologies. The steps
taken were: (1) to collect existing good practices in safety and health in
Cambodia; (2) to develop new participatory training programmes for home workers
and small construction sites referring to ILO's WISE training programme, and
(3) to train government officers, workers, employers and NGOs as safety and
health trainers. The participatory training programmes developed consisted of
action-checklists associated with illustrations, good example photo sheets, and
texts explaining practical, low-cost improvement measures. Results: The established safety and health trainers reached many
informal economy workers through their human networks, and trained them by
using the developed participatory training programmes. More than 3,000 informal
economy workers were trained and they implemented improvements by using
low-cost methods. Conclusions: Participatory training methodologies and active
cooperation between the government, workers, employers and NGOs made it
possible to provide practical training for those involved in the informal
economy workplaces.
