10 Jul 13 - 15:36
A resource pack for unions by ITF
HIV/AIDS is a major, ongoing concern to transport workers, As part of its commitment to raising awareness and supporting unions to take practical action around HIV/AIDS , the ITF has published a resource pack for unions.
Transport workers in many regions and industries experience difficult working conditions which impact on their health and welfare. Work schedules and accommodation are often poorly managed and there tends to be little care for the well-being of workers o rrespect fo rtheir rights.
Information and education on occupational safety and health, including HIV prevention and care, are generally lacking. Not all workers in the transport industry are mobile, but these issues affect themall. Contacts between mobile and non-mobile workers take place in all transport sectors and are a factor of risk.
Several studies show higher than average HIV prevalence in port cities. The Philippines supplies the highest number of global seafarers and is one of only nine countries where HIV rates are increasing ,according to the 2012 UN AIDS Report on the global AIDS epidemic. HIV prevalence among seafarers is related more to the time spent in port than at sea.
ILO Recommendation 200 concerning HIV and AIDS sets out the following principles
1. The response to HIV and AIDS [in the world of work] should be recognised as contributing to the realization of human rights, fundamental freedoms and gender equality.
2.HIV and AIDS should be ...treated as a workplace issue,[and].. included among the essential elements ofthe national,regional and international response to the pandemic with full participation of employers' and workers'organizations.
3. There should be no discrimination against or stigmatization of workers, in particular job seekers and job applicants, on the grounds of real or perceived HIV status...
4. Prevention of all modes of HIV transmission should be a fundamental priority.
5. Workers, their families and their dependants should have access to ...[HIV] prevention, treatment, care and support, and the workplace should help facilitate accessto these services.
6. Workers' participation ... in the design, implementation and evaluation of national and workplace programmes should be recognized and reinforced.
7. Workers should benefit from programmes to prevent specific risks of occupational transmission of HIV and related ... diseases, such astuberculosis.
8. Workers, their families and dependants should enjoy protection oftheir privacy, ... in particular with regard to their own HIV status.
9. No workersshould be required to undertake anHIV test or disclose their HIVstatus.
10. Measuresto addressHIV and AIDS in the world of work should be part of national development policies and programmes, including those related to labour, education,social protection and health; and the protection of workers in occupations that are particularly exposed to the risk of HIV transmission.
View more information about ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS athttp://www.ilo.org/aids/lang--en/index.htm
Occupational safety and health principles and structures as part of the solution
HIV is not spread through normal workplace contact. It cannot survive long outside the human body. It cannot survive on machinery, or on food stuffs that workers may be preparing or packaging.
Nevertheless, the working environment does have risks:
• Some workers may come into contact with body fluids as part oftheir work; the most obvious groups are health and emergency service workers.
• Other workers are vulnerable more indirectly due to the nature and conditions of their work, especially mobile workers.
• Workers may come into contact with body fluids as a result of an accident at work, for example first aiders
Whatever the circumstances, safety and health principles, especially prevention and health promotion, are being usefully applied to HIV/AIDS and OSH committees are often used to manage the response in the union and at the workplace.
