The African Union Development Agency and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) in partnership with the African Union Commission (AUC), The International Labour Organisation (ILO), East Central and Southern Africa-Health Community (ECSA-HC), Department of Health South Africa, the National Institute for Occupational Health South Africa (NIOH) and OSH-Africa have successfully launched a series of 12 Covid-19 Workplace Response Trainings for all sectors of the economy. The well-received trainings took place from May 18 2020 till July 10 2020, with 2 158 participants joining from 33 countries across Africa.
The overall focus of these trainings was on the implications and management of Covid-19 in the workplace and strengthening Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). The impacts of Covid-19 in the workplace include an increase of man hours for frontline healthcare workers, psychological challenges associated with changes in the way work is done, rising medical costs and the loss of wages. Out of the 12 trainings, the most popular were “Epidemiology and Management of Covid-19 in the Workspace”, followed by “Rational use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during Covid-19”, and “Covid-19 Health Risk Assessment”.
Covid-19 OSH guidelines have been developed as reference materials for member states. They are expected to have an overall positive impact on strengthening OSH and labour productivity in member states.
There are a total of six Covid-19 OSH Guidelines which focus on:
- Covid-19/OSH Risk Management Guidelines
- Covid-19/OSH Guidelines for Mining Industry
- Covid-19-19/OSH Guidelines for Occupational Safety and Health and Wellness of Health Workers
- Covid-1919/OSH Guideline for Educational Sector
- Covid-1919/OSH Guidelines for Food and Retail Sector
- Covid-19-19/OSH Clinical Occupational Health Guidelines.
The aim of these guidelines is to help close the OSH gaps and strengthen response capacity in member states during the Covid-19 pandemic.
To download Covid-19/OSH Clinical Occupational Health Guidelines please visit: https://www.nepad.org/publication/african-union-Covid-19-occupational-safety-and-health-guidelines-series