Overview of the
Occupational Safety and Health
Situation
In the Arab Region
A study prepared for discussion at the
Inter-Regional Tripartite Meeting on
Occupational Safety and Health
Damascus, November 18-20, 2007
International Labour Office
1
Prepared by:
Rima R. Habib, Ph.D
Faculty of Health Sciences
American University of Beirut
P.O.Box 11-0236 Riadh El Solh 1107 2020
Beirut, Lebanon
Tel: +961 1 340460 Ext 4630
Fax: +961 1 744470
Email: rima.habib@aub.edu.lb
2
CONTENTS
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Objectives of the study
1.2. Significance of the study
1.3. Methods
2.
GENERAL DATA
2.1. Basic Demographic Data on the Countries
2.1.1. Total Population
2.1.2. Age Structure
2.1.3. Population Growth Rate
2.1.4. Literacy Rate
2.2. Basic Economic Data of the Countries
2.2.1. Gross Domestic Product
2.2.2. Poverty Line
2.2.3. Labour Force and Unemployment Rate
2.2.4. Economic Activity
2.3. Health Indicators of the Countries
2.3.1. Life Expectancy at Birth
2.3.2. Child Mortality
2.3.3. Adult Mortality
2.3.4. Distribution of Health Workers
3.
OSH LEGISLATION AND ENFORCEMENT
3.1. Ratified ILO Conventions
3.1.1. Core OSH Conventions
3.1.2. Obstacles Hindering the Ratification
3.1.2. a. Convention 155
3.1.2. b. Convention 161
3.1.2. c. Convention 187
3.1.3. Plans for Future Ratification
3.2. OSH legislation
3.2.1. Major References to OSH
3.2.2. Major Updates in OSH Legislation
3.2.3. OSH Aspects Missing in the Countries’ Legislation
3.3. Agreement between OSH Legislation in Arab Countries and ILO Standards
3.4. Authorities Responsible for drafting OSH Laws
3.5. Enforcement and Implementation of OSH Laws
3.6. OSH Legislation Coverage of the Workforce
4.
LABOUR INSPECTION SYSTEM
4.1. Inspection Coverage
4.2. Criteria for Inspection
4.3. Inspection Services
4.4. Inspectors
4.5. Privileges of Inspectors
4.6. Difficulties faced by Inspectors
4.7. Reporting
5.
OSH SPECIALISTS EDUCATION, TRAINING AND INFORMATION
5.1. National Roster of OSH Specialists
5.2. OSH-related University Curricula and Technical Training Agencies
5.3.Information Centres
5.3.1. Mechanism for disseminating information
5.4. Specialized Technical, Medical, and Scientific Institutions
6.
NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR NOTIFICATION AND RECORDING
6.1.
Occupational Diseases
6.2.
Occupational Accidents
3
7.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SYSTEMS
7.1. Coverage
7.2 Agencies Responsible for Compensation
8.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES
8.1. Occupational Health Services Problems and Deficiencies
8.2. National OSH Management Systems
8.3. Adoption of ILO OSH-MS 2001 Guidelines
9.
NATIONAL OSH POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES
9.1. OSH national policies
9.2. OSH Programmes
9.3. Funding
9.4. Major Achievements of the Programmes
10. NATIONAL OSH ADVISORY BODY/SAFETY COUNCIL
10.1. Tripartite/Bipartite Bodies
10.2. Coordination with ILO
10.3. Roles of Workers’ Syndicates
10.4. Roles of Workers’ Unions
11. NATIONAL OSH SITUATION
11.1. National Profile
11.2. OSH Awareness Campaigns
11.3. Asbestos
11.4. Chemical Safety
12. STATISTICS ON WORK-RELATED ACCIDENTS AND DISEASES
13. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
ANNEXES
Annex 1: Tables
Table 1: Basic Demographic Data
Table 2: Basic Economic Data
Table 3: Distribution of Workers by Economic Activity
Table 4: Basic Health Indicators
Table 5: Distribution of Health Workers
Table 6: Ratified ILO Conventions and Ratification plans for Core OSH conventions
Table 7.a: Local Labour and Basic OSH Legislation in the 18 studied countries
Table 7.b: OSH-Related laws and decrees
Table 7.c: Coverage of OSH in the legislation
Table 8: OSH Legislative and Implementation Authorities
Table 9: Covered and Uncovered Sectors by OSH Legislation
Table 10: Inspection Coverage in the Studied Arab Countries
Table 11: Inspection Services at the Various Countries
Table 12: Information on Inspectors in the 18 Studied Arab Countries
Table 13: OSH Education and Training in the 18 Studied Arab Countries
Table 14: Main National OSH Programs
Table 15: Percentage of Occupational accidents and diseases reported to authorities
Table 16: Coverage of Worker's Compensation System
Table 17: Problems and Deficiencies of Occupational Health Services
Table 18: OSH Advisory Bodies and their Corresponding Activities
Table 19: Asbestos, Chemicals, and GHS usage measures in the 18 studied countries
Table 20: OSH Indicators on which data are collected
Table 21: Statistics on work-related accidents, diseases and mortality
Annex 2: English Questionnaire filled by the Ministries of Labour in the countries
REFERENCES
4
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
ALO
BE
BS
C
CIS
GHS
ILO
KSA
MOE
MOH
MOJ
MOL
MOLA
MOLOD
MOLSA
MOMM
MOInt
MOInd
MSE
OSH
OSH-MS
PhD
SME
TOSHI
UAE
UNDP
WHO
Arab Labour Organization
Bachelor of Engineering
Bachelor of Sciences
Convention
Information System Centre
Globally Harmonized System
International Labour Organisation
Kingdom Saudi Arabia
Ministry of the Environment
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Labour
Ministry of Legal Affairs
Ministry of Labour and occupational development
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
Ministry of Manpower and Migration
Ministry of the Interior
Ministry of the Industry
Micro- and Small enterprise
Occupational Safety and Health
Occupational Safety and Health – Management System
Doctor of Philosophy
Small and medium-sized enterprise
Tunisian Occupational Safety and Health Institute
United Arab Emirates
United Nations Development Programme
World Health Organization
5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Occupational accidents and diseases are major causes of injury and deaths among
workers. Work-related deaths in the Middle East were estimated at 19,000 in 20051.
To prevent the exposure of workers to such hazards, the ILO has been working on
spreading worldwide awareness on the matter, pointing out to the existing dangers
and deficiencies at the working environment, proposing means to overcome them, and
offering all kinds of assistance to enforce changes on the ground.
In a joint effort to promote safer working conditions in the Arab region, the ILO and
the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) will hold a workshop in November 2007. This
study offers a background on the OSH situation of 18 Arab countries including:
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon,
Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab
Emirates, and Yemen.
A questionnaire was sent to the Ministries of Labour in all studied countries to obtain
information on the existing national safety and health conditions. Officers of OSH
departments in each country filled the questionnaire that was sent back to the ILO
Regional office in Beirut where the study was carried out.
The results of the current study on OSH situation in the Arab region showed that Arab
countries vary in their health and safety condition, with some countries showing
serious deficiencies in OSH mechanisms and performance. The main obstacles for
OSH improvements include the delayed ratification of ILO-OSH conventions, the
lack of detailed and comprehensive OSH provisions in the local legislation, the
absence of national OSH policies and programs and the weak enforcement of OSH
regulations. Additional obstacles for strengthening national OSH programs include
insufficient reporting and compensation coverage, the lack of accurate and
comprehensive data related to occupational accidents and diseases and failure to
incorporate OSH tripartite advisory bodies in the decision making process on OSHrelated matters. In addition, many countries suffer from insufficient local OSH
expertise; the small number of OSH experts and inspectors render it difficult to
implement a successful OSH program.
Arab countries should start with the ratification of the ILO OSH conventions and set
the proper OSH legislative framework necessary for OSH promotion in the region.
Arab countries are highly recommended to evaluate their OSH situation by primarily
preparing an exhaustive OSH national profile according to ILO recommendation 197.
Tripartite committees consisting of workers' and employers' representatives, along
with governmental authorities should take part in taking the necessary decisions for
the promotion of OSH. Research and educational institutes should be encouraged to
undertake OSH studies, and proficient OSH specialists and inspectors should be
recruited and provided with the necessary facilities to enforce OSH regulations.
Authorities need to be stricter at applying OSH Legislation in order to properly
enforce the existing OSH laws. Raising public and workers’ awareness on OSH
should be achieved to promote a safety and health culture in the society.
1
Somavia, J. (2005). Decent Work, Safe Work. Programme on Safety and Health at work and the
Environment (SafeWork), International Labour Organization (ILO).
6
INTRODUCTION
Abiding by the influential discrepancy occupationally-related ill-health and injuries
have on the workers’ health and productivity, and consequently, their families and the
whole economical standing and social welfare of the country, the growing worldwide
awareness on occupational safety and health comes to sight.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes the most basic inherent rights
pertaining to the human nature; of which are rights of life, dignity, nationality, proper
treatment, refusing abuse, and last but not least, proper working conditions and the
basic rights at work. Accordingly, the basic rights of life, liberty, and security of
person should by no chance be excluded from the worksite. The working environment
is not an isolated atmosphere from the rest of the world; it’s the direct physical
environment where workers spend a large proportion of their lifetime, and it’s
extremely important that the basic human rights be enacted in its vicinity.
There still, occupational accidents and diseases are major causes of injury and death
among workers every year with an estimated two million fatalities occurring every
year among workers worldwide. It is also estimated that for every case of death, 500
to 2000 work-related injuries take place. Similarly high rates of fatalities and injuries
are reported in regions such as the Middle East where 19,000 and more than 14
million work-related fatalities and injuries happen every year respectively. In other
regions such as Latin America and the Caribbean, around 30,000 and 23 million
deaths and injuries occur every year respectively2.
Most accidents are preventable by “sound prevention supported by appropriate
reporting and inspection practices and guided by ILO Conventions”3.
Surprisingly, fatality rates aren’t in conformity with the economical status of the
countries. For instance, fatality rates in some Middle East countries outweigh by four
folds those in the industrialized countries2.
Similarly, there’s nonconformity in the distribution of the social and insurance
coverage over the economical sectors; while in some Nordic countries there’s a
complete coverage of all economical sectors, in some others 10% or even less of the
workforce receive insurance coverage. In fact, even in some developed countries,
there’s a deficiency in the coverage against occupational accidents and diseases2.
The ILO organizes various regional meetings at different time intervals in order to
inform the different countries about worldwide OSH aspects and provide guidance for
the countries to help them improve their OSH status. Arab countries, which are
distributed over Asia and Africa, attend the Asian or African regional meetings
depending on their location.
The overall attention given to OSH in the Arab Region is generally primitive. Arab
Countries still lack the basic commitment needed to raise up occupational safety and
health to the ILO standards as there are still many challenges and institutional
deficiencies preventing proper prevention of occupational accidents and diseases.
2
Somavia, J. (2005). Decent Work, Safe Work. Programme on Safety and Health at work and the
Environment (SafeWork), International Labour Organization (ILO).
3
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
7
Yet, over the past few years, there has been a humble but vital advance in the field,
unfortunately applied in various countries at various degrees.
For example, an essential improvement is taking place at the Gulf countries where the
Council of Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs in the Gulf Cooperation Council
(GCC) are performing much effort on the matter. They have signed in September
2003 a Plan of Joint Activities for 2004-05 with the ILO, which is essential to realize
ILO goals and principles in Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar,
and United Arab Emirates4.
1.1. Objectives of the study
Apparently, the occupational prospect that the Arab region provides is one that lacks a
serious plan to solve the status quo.
Based on the global trends and emerging issues in the region, the ILO Regional Office
for Arab States has taken the initiative to develop the current study that provides a
situation analysis of OSH in Arab States.
A study was performed to conduct a situation analysis of the occupational safety and
health situation in 18 Arab countries; namely: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan,
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine,
Qatar, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
This study gives an aerial view of the status quo in Arab States in relation to OSH and
would be a snap shot of the position we are in. It helps identify the next steps for a
harmonized regional strategy rather than unstructured OSH interventions.
The conclusions and recommendations provided in this report are basically the
measures needed to promote OSH in the region.
1.2. Significance of the study
“The right to Decent Work is what the ILO wants to provide workers with ensuring
them earning a living in freedom, dignity, and security,” says Juan Somavia, Director
General of ILO5.
The ILO decisively refuses the concept of that diseases and injuries “go with the job”,
and the challenge of the ILO is to extend the advances in the field of occupational
safety and health in the developed countries to the rest of the working world5.
The success of the objectives of the Safe Work heavily depends on mobilizing
occupational safety and health constituency and professionals around the world.
Therefore, what is needed is the cooperation of the governments, employers’ and
workers’ organizations to prioritize the elimination of the occupational hazards and
coordinate with the occupational safety and health community5.
A study aimed to outline the OSH Situation in the Arab region as a means to use it as
background information for the regional workshop on evaluating the OSH Situation in
the Arab Region in November 2007.
International Labour Office, Decent work in Asia: Reporting on Results 2001 – 05. Fourteenth
Asian Regional Meeting, Busan, Republic of Korea, August – September 2006, International Labour
Office (ILO), Geneva, 2006.
4
5
Somavia, J. (2005). Decent Work, Safe Work. Programme on Safety and Health at work and the
Environment (SafeWork), International Labour Organization (ILO).
8
The results of this report will help inform ILO and other OSH stakeholders in the
region about the specific needs at hand and the priority plan for the near future.
The in hand data will be integrated into a serious plan of action upon notifying the
countries studied in the report, and that have attended the workshop, on the
significance of realizing the dangers of the situation, and creating a solid strategy to
work out the gaps and deficiencies.
1.3. Methods
For accuracy and efficiency an inclusive OSH self-administered questionnaire has
addressed the OSH specialists and officers at the ministries of Labour and Social
Affairs or Manpower in the various Arab states considered in the study in the period
between July and September 2007 (Refer to Annex 2).
The questionnaire addressed the various aspects related to OSH. It included sections
on OSH legislation and enforcement, labour inspection systems, workers’
compensation system, statistics on occupational accidents and diseases, national
systems of notification and recording, occupational health services, national OSH
policy, national OSH advisory bodies, national OSH situation, national OSH
management system, national OSH indicators, national OSH information centres,
national roster of OSH professionals, national OSH programmes/ action plans, OSH
raising awareness campaigns, promotional OSH programmes and activities, asbestos,
and chemical safety.
Questionnaires were faxed to all Ministries of Labour in the Arab countries, and in
some cases were as well emailed to the OSH Directors at the MOL. Questionnaires
were consequently filled and response ranged from 1 to 8 weeks. At many instances,
the filled questionnaires were accompanied by relevant lists of Acts and Decrees of
the countries’ legislation, and other forms or documents pertinent to OSH.
After reviewing the completed questionnaires, quality control was undertaken, such
that in cases of ambiguity, contacts are called on the phone for clarifications on
responses.
The data retrieved were filled into a matrix and an analytical comparison of the
countries was undertaken. Extracted information from the matrices was used to
construct diagnostic tables and draw out conclusions on the current OSH situation in
the countries, the pattern of development on the matter, and the main gaps and
deficiencies hindering its evolution. General patterns and trends sometimes prevailed
for certain aspects; while for other issues, some countries would stand out as strong or
weak models in the field.
It is worth mentioning that in many instances, National profile documents were
consulted to clarify specific OSH issues in several countries such as: Algeria, Iraq,
Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, and Tunisia.
The results and discussion in the following sections provides an overview on the OSH
situation in the Arab Region.
2.
GENERAL DATA
In order to provide a circumspect assessment and offer a reliable background on the
current socio-economic status of the 18 countries under study, and thus evaluate the
central factors behind their observed status; basic demographic, economic, and health
9
data were integrated from recently published statistics. Those figures, being important
health indicators, will allow us to relate the apparent OSH rank to the perceptible
standing of those indicators.
In this section, information on the general and demographic data of the countries
under study was collected from the statistics published by the World Health
Organization (WHO), the World Bank, and UNDP.
2.1. Basic Demographic Data on the Countries
The Demographic data outline the standing of the states and whether they are able to
cope with the uprisings faced.
Table 1 includes basic demographic data about the Arab countries under study.
2.1.1. Total Population
The population in each of the 18 Arab countries has been increasing. Based on the
most recent Statistics of the WHO in 2007, Bahrain and Qatar are the least populated
Arab countries (respectively 727,000 and 813,000) versus Egypt with the highest
population (74,003,000).
2.1.2. Age Structure
Most of the people in all countries were between 15 and 64 years. This represents the
age of economically active population. According to the US Census statistics, the
least country with individuals aged between 15 and 64 years is Yemen (51%), and the
highest is the UAE (78 %).
UAE can thus potentially be considered an active community, for the people in this
middle age group (15-64) seem to contribute the most to the multidisciplinary
development in the society.
2.1.3. Literacy Rate
Among the countries with the literacy rate available in the UNDP Statistics in 2006, the
gulf countries are doing better than the African countries with the highest literacy rate
recorded in Kuwait (93.3%) and the lowest in Sudan (60.9 %).
2.2
Basic Economic Data of the Countries
The Arab region has been experiencing a real slow integration into the global
economy, particularly because of regional instability and ongoing wars and conflicts.
However, the main contributions of the Arab world to the world-wide economy are oil
exports and labour migration from within and beyond the region.
“In the Arab states, the youth make up 21% of the population while those below 15
years of age account for another 37%. In 2003, the youth unemployment rate was
25.6%, the highest in the world, along with the regional unemployment rate…In the
absence of youth employment, the Arab youth have to seek other options of work in
order to afford life expenses and support their families. They ultimately turn out to be
underemployed, in the informal economy and desperately poor…Also in the region is
a high degree of uneven distribution of wealth.”6
Tables 2 and 3 include the basic demographic and economic indicators of the Arab
countries, especially the involvement and integration into the labour force, and the
unemployment rate.
International Labour Office, Decent work in Asia: Reporting on Results 2001 – 05. Fourteenth
Asian Regional Meeting, Busan, Republic of Korea, August – September 2006, International Labour
Office (ILO), Geneva, 2006.
6
10
2.2.1. Gross Domestic Product
GDP is generally defined as the market value of the goods and services produced by a
country. The highest GDP is in the gulf area especially in the UAE ($24,056/ capita),
while the lowest is in Egypt ($305.9/capita) according to UNDP statistics in 2004.
2.2.2. Poverty Line
The poverty line is the minimum level of income considered necessary to achieve an
adequate living. According to the WHO 2007 report, 15.7% are below poverty line in
Yemen, however, statistics are not available over this indicator in most countries
under study.
The ILO works with the motive that improving working conditions and workers’
attributes would allow for improvement in productivity, and thus, is a way for
working out global poverty.
The ILO explains that poverty doesn’t allow for proper management of occupational
accidents and diseases that have serious effects on workers, employers, and the whole
working environment. Workers’ ill-health would have serious devastating effects on
their productivity. While on the other hand, good occupational safety and health
provisions improve productivity at the enterprise and National levels.7
2.2.3. Labour Force and Unemployment Rate
The highest working population resides in Algeria with 9.3 million workers8, while
the lowest unemployment rate is in the overall gulf area; the highest found to be in
Jordan with 28.7% unemployed.9
By definition, the unemployment rate measuring the extent of joblessness within an
economy is “the percentage of the total workforce of people actively seeking
employment, who are currently unemployed.”10
2.2.4. Economic Activity
Hazardous occupations vary from one country to another depending on the dominant
industries and economies at every country; thus major occupational hazards occur at
the developing countries where the main economical activities are primary and
extractive occupations rated as the world’s most hazardous industries such as
agriculture, logging, fishing, and mining11 (refer to ILO safe and decent work).
2.3. Health Indicators of the Countries
Since a healthy working environment contributes to a healthy population, health
indicators reflect to a great extent the labour standing at a country.
Tables 4 and 5 include the basic health indicators in the studied Arab countries.
2.3.1. Life Expectancy at Birth
The UNICEF defines life expectancy at birth as “the number of years newborn
children would live if subject to the mortality risks prevailing for the cross-section of
7
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
8
World Development Indicators 2006. World Bank.http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/cover.htm.
Labour Force Surveys www.ilo.org/dyn/lfsurvey/lfsurvey.home
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Economic Research Service. Macroeconomics
and Agriculture: Glossary. USDA, November 2006.
11
Somavia, J. (2005). Decent Work, Safe Work. Programme on Safety and Health at work and the
Environment (SafeWork), International Labour Organization (ILO)
9
10
11
population at the time of their birth. This indicator reflects environmental conditions
in a country, the health of its people, the quality of care they receive when they are
sick, and their living conditions”.12
Life expectancy can fall due to problems like famine, war, disease and poor health.
Improvements in health and welfare increase life expectancy. It is the lowest in the
African countries especially in Sudan where the average life expectancy at birth is 59
years. In Iraq, which is witnessing a particular case of an ongoing war, the individual
average lifetime of an individual is estimated to be 55 years in 2006. On the other
hand, this figure is the highest in the Gulf countries in general especially in UAE
where one is expected at birth to live 78.3 years.13
2.3.2. Child Mortality
A similar trend was found in Africa concerning child mortality. African countries
recorded the highest child mortality in Sudan where 154/1000 children die each year
according to the US Census Bureau statistics; while the gulf area recorded the lowest
rates.
2.3.3. Adult Mortality
Concerning adult mortality, the highest rate is in Sudan where 341/1000 males and
291/1000 females died in 2006 according to World Bank statistics. It is also worth
mentioning that relatively high mortality rates were also recorded at the countries that
were stricken by wars the same year, particularly Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine, being
the highest in Iraq. The gulf countries, on the other hand, represent a lesser mortality
rates, specifically the lowest in Kuwait, where only 100/1000 males, and 68/1000
females died in 2006.
2.3.4. Distribution of Health Workers
Data is mostly available concerning the physicians, midwives and pharmacists.
Dentists and pharmacists are not as available, and they constitute, along with public,
environmental and community health workers the least available overall.
According to WHO, African countries mainly Libya, Sudan and Morocco have very
low figures. Of the gulf countries, Yemen and Iraq also represent low numbers of the
health workers.
Building on the previously-mentioned basic data and statistics on the countries under
study, we will proceed by presenting the results obtained in this study, and set the
grounds for evaluating the OSH situation in those countries.
12
World Bank 2007. Youthink! But do you know? Glossary. World Bank.
13
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the Global
Water Crisis. Human Development Report. 2006. UNDP, New York, USA.
12
3.
OSH LEGISLATION AND ENFORCEMENT
Concerning occupational safety and health, the ILO’s constituents (governments,
employers, and workers) have developed over 40 standards (conventions/
recommendations) and 40 codes of practice which include the basic principles and rights
at work.14
The supervisory bodies monitoring the application of ILO standards and codes of practice
consist of the “Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and
Recommendations, and the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards”.14
3.1. Ratified ILO Conventions
The total number of ratified OSH conventions for the Arab States, including the core
OSH Conventions is provided in table 6. Information on the ratified ILO conventions was
collected from the ILOLEX database.15
Egypt and Iraq are the countries that have ratified the greatest number of conventions (63
and 61 conventions respectively), whereby Lebanon has ratified the greatest number of
OSH conventions (17 OSH conventions of the total ILO conventions ratified), and Oman
and Qatar the lowest with 4 and 6 OSH conventions respectively.
3.1.1. Core OSH Conventions:
The core concepts of occupational safety and health are covered in the Occupational
Safety and Health Convention (C155) and the Occupational Health Services convention
(C161). Additionally, the Promotional Framework for OSH (C187) was put in 2006 in an
attempt to develop systematic means of implementation of the conventions,
recommendations, and codes of practice; the main aim of which is to urge the tripartite
contribution at every country to develop national policies, systems and programmes.
C187, along with the ILO global strategy on OSH, aim to reduce occupational accidents
and diseases, part of the ILO’s Decent Work agenda. Other OSH conventions include
protection against specific risks and health safety in particular economical sectors14 (refer
to tools and objectives of C187-BOX 2).
As for the detailed requirements on National policies, systems, programs, and profiles,
they are mentioned in C187’s accompanying Recommendation 197 which also urges
states to adopt ILO instruments relevant to the Promotional Framework for OSH.14
3.1.2. Obstacles Hindering Ratification
None of the 18 studied Arab states have ratified ILO conventions 155, 161, and 187,
except for Algeria that has ratified convention C 155 in 2006.
14
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
15
International Labour Organization (ILO). ILOLEX Database on International Labour Standards.
ILO June, 2007.
13
3.1.2.a. Convention 155
Different Arab states have different reasons for not ratifying C155. The main reason,
however is that the convention contradicts with certain aspects of the National legislation
of some countries such as in Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, KSA, Syria, and UAE. Other
reasons are administrative in nature. It is also noticed that in some countries, certain
economical sectors are not covered by the labour code, such as the governmental/public
sector. This may appear as a reason for not ratifying the convention; however convention
155 provides for the possibility of excluding economic sectors, or special categories of workers,
as long as reasons for the exclusion are given. (Refer to Box 1)
BOX 1: APPLICATION OF C 155 IN VARIOUS ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
Article 1
1. This Convention applies to all branches of economic activity.
2. A Member ratifying this Convention may, after consultation at the earliest possible
stage with the representative organizations of employers and workers concerned,
exclude from its application, in part or in whole, particular branches of economic
activity, such as maritime shipping or fishing, in respect of which special problems of
a substantial nature arise.
3. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list, in the first report on the
application of the Convention submitted under Article 22 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization, any branches which may have been excluded in
pursuance of paragraph 2 of this Article, giving the reasons for such exclusion and
describing the measures taken to give adequate protection to workers in excluded
branches, and shall indicate in subsequent reports any progress towards wider
application.
Article 2
1. This Convention applies to all workers in the branches of economic activity
covered.
2. A Member ratifying this Convention may, after consultation at the earliest possible
stage with the representative organizations of employers and workers concerned,
exclude from its application, in part or in whole, limited categories of workers in
respect of which there are particular difficulties.
3. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list, in the first report on the
application of the Convention submitted under Article 22 of the Constitution of the
International Labour Organization, any limited categories of workers which may have
been excluded in pursuance of paragraph 2 of this Article, giving the reasons for
such exclusion, and shall indicate in subsequent reports any progress towards wider
application.
14
In Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Lybia, Oman, and Sudan, the convention is awaiting
ratification and is still under study, trying to compromise between what it includes and
what local legislation declares, which is a time-consuming process. It will remain a
never-ending process as long as there is no political will to deal with it, i.e. set objectives
and deadlines to adapt legislation to the provisions of ILO OSH Conventions in a
tripartite context.
Certain countries, such as Yemen and Syria have pointed out to the fact that the lack of
financial abilities, human resources, and technical devices at working environment
laboratories are delaying the ratification of the convention. The lack of financial
resources allocated to human resources, their status, etc. in OSH demonstrates again the
low priority given to OSH.
3.1.2.b. Convention 161
Obstacles to ratifying C161 also varied in different countries; mainly, legislative
considerations in Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, KSA, and UAE, deficiency in Human
and financial resources in Syria and Yemen, and it’s in the process of ratification in
Lebanon, and Sudan.
In Algeria, the convention is awaiting a new and fairer labour code facilitating its
ratification. Oman, on the other hand, is awaiting the completion of workers’ orders to
take part in the consultations to ratify the convention.
However, convention 161 provides for a progressive development of OH Services which
again renders the legislative argument irrelevant. (Refer to Box 2)
BOX 2: PROGRESSIVE APPLICATION OF C 161
Article 3
1. Each Member undertakes to develop progressively occupational health services for
all workers, including those in the public sector and the members of production cooperatives, in all branches of economic activity and all undertakings. The provision
made should be adequate and appropriate to the specific risks of the undertakings.
2. If occupational health services cannot be immediately established for all
undertakings, each Member concerned shall draw up plans for the establishment of
such services in consultation with the most representative organisations of employers
and workers, where they exist.
3. Each Member concerned shall indicate, in the first report on the application of the
Convention submitted under article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour
Organisation, the plans drawn up pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article, and indicate
in subsequent reports any progress in their application
15
3.1.2.c Convention 187
The main reason behind the fact that the majority of the countries haven’t yet ratified this
convention is that it’s very recent, being issued in 2006. However, based on the data
collected in this study, the convention is being processed for ratification in Egypt,
Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Sudan, and Yemen, which are studying it and planning to ratify
it. The reason given by Bahrain and Oman for not ratifying C 187 is that the basic
conventions 155 and 161 have not yet been ratified. However, it would be possible to
ratify C 187 independently since it is a “promotional instrument” which promotes all the
other OSH ILO Conventions. (Refer to Box 3)
BOX 3: Tools and Objectives of C187
The promotional framework for occupational safety and health aims at providing
consistent and methodical management of occupational safety and health and
sponsor the recognition of other conventions in order to prevent occupational
accidents, diseases, and fatalities.
The main objectives of the convention are:
“-To promote continuous improvement of occupational safety and health to prevent
occupational injuries, diseases and deaths;
-To take active steps towards achieving progressively a safe and healthy working
environment; and
-To periodically consider what measures could be taken to ratify relevant
occupational safety and health Conventions of the ILO.
-To promote a preventative safety and health culture”
The convention requires that the consultations of tripartite committees in view of the
ILO standards and develop the following tools:
- A national policy: to promote a safe and healthy environment
-A national system: consists of the mechanisms such as laws, regulations, tripartite
activities, education, training, research, and statistics to ensure the implementation
and efficiency of the policy.
- A national programme: includes the priorities, time frame, and means of action and
progress assessing regarding the occupational safety and health situation.
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
On the other hand, Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Syria, and UAE reported some
incompatibilities between the provisions of C187 and their local legislation without
specifying those incompatibilities.
16
BOX 4: Recommendation 197
Recommendation 197 requires that “in promoting a national preventative safety and
health culture, governments and employers’ and workers’ organizations should seek
to raise workplace and public awareness of occupational safety and health through
national campaigns, by promoting education and training, exchanging health
statistics, facilitate cooperation, promoting joint safety and health committees and
designating workers’ safety and health representatives as well as addressing
constraints of micro-enterprises and small and medium sized enterprises in the
implementation of safety and health policies.”
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
3.1.3. Plans for Future Ratification
For C155 and C161, the majority of countries have stated that they are willing to ratify
them in the near future; however, for convention 187, fewer countries are planning to
ratify; probably because it’s still new, and countries haven’t had the time to thoroughly
study it. Table 6 points out which Arab states plan to ratify the three core conventions.
However, none of the countries have set a timetable to ratify any of the conventions.
3.2. OSH legislation
OSH Legislation is included in the laws of all Arab States under study, however in a
varying level of details (refer to Table 7.b for details).
3.2.1. Major References to OSH
Integration of OSH provisions into the studied countries’ legislation varies as well. In
some countries it is relatively as old as the endorsement of the country’s constitution,
while in others, it’s relatively new with a new Labour code, or a recently updated one.
Table 7.b includes all OSH-related Labour Laws, Acts, and Ministerial Orders, Decrees,
and Decisions in the various Arab States.
3.2.2.
Major Updates in OSH Legislation
On the matter of updating National legislation, all countries have amended their
legislations and Labour codes in various levels, to match International standards and
improve the working conditions of the Labour forces.
The updates are mainly related to the labour laws in the public sector, the social security
codes, the rights of the handicapped, the agricultural laws, child labour, inspection, and
other OSH issues that had been initially absent from the local legislation.
17
3.2.3. OSH Aspects Missing in the Countries’ Legislation
In this section, legislation gaps relating to specific occupational risks, specific economic
sectors, and specific categories of workers are highlighted.
There is a slight confusion between work related risks not covered by legislation
discussed in this section, and economic sectors or categories of workers (covered in table
9). As for the degree to which legislation covers OSH risks, it is noticed that priorities
vary for different countries, and accordingly, countries may exclude or disregard certain
OSH aspects.
Table 7.c provides country-specific response in relation to covered and not covered OSH
aspects in the national legislation..
Referring to Table 7.c, it is shown that different countries have different OSH aspects
covered in their legislation; unfortunately, various other OSH issues go unnoticed in a
varying pattern as well.
In countries such as Algeria and Palestine, the provisions on pathology risks such as HIV
and carcinogens at the working environments are missing in the legislation.
Additionally, exposure limits to radiation and sunrays are also missing in some
legislation, such as in Qatar and Jordan.
Kuwait, Bahrain, and others, exclude the public and certain informal sectors such as
agriculture, from their legislation.
3.3.
Agreement Between OSH Legislation in Arab Countries and ILO Standards
Most respondents reported their country’s laws and regulations to be in line with the ILO
standards; however, respondents from Morocco, Oman, and Syria noted that their laws
diverge from ILO patterns when it comes to the laws on OSH in the public sector, and the
presence of OSH National committees.
The rest of the countries reported having their Labour laws continuously updated to
match international standards. Yet, the data revealed gaps in the legislation of all the
countries, especially that none of them has yet ratified the core conventions.
3.4. Authorities Responsible for Drafting OSH Laws
In order to follow up on OSH progress and cope with related upcoming issues, it is
important to have specialized authorities responsible for the constant upgrading of the
legislation. In some countries, those are exclusive to the governmental officials, while in
few others, tripartite councils and other institutions in the society are reported to take part
in the process.
Mainly, MOL is the key authority in charge of OSH legislation in the countries under
study. In some other countries, MOH is also involved such as in Bahrain, Morocco, KSA,
Syria; or sometimes even the Ministries of Justice, as in UAE and Yemen.
18
Other than the ministries, there are institutions in some countries also involved in the
legislation; such as in Syria, KSA, and others.
Workers’ and employers’ orders also are involved in legislation in countries such as
Oman, Palestine, UAE, and Yemen.
Table 8 points out the authorities involved in OSH legislation in the diverse countries.
3.5. Enforcement and Implementation of OSH Laws
MOL is also the key authority involved in the implementation of the laws and regulations
in the different states; in some countries, the Ministry of Health is also involved. In
addition, there are certain institutions in some countries that take part in law enforcement
such as Civil Defence, Social Security institutes, Labour inspectorates, Municipalities,
and OSH bureau.
Table 8 includes the authorities involved in OSH enforcement in the diverse countries.
All countries, but Syria reported having proper enforcement of OSH Laws.
However, in Algeria, and although OSH laws are properly enforced, the application on
the ground is insufficient due to a deficiency in the means of enforcement at the level of
the information, training, and communication of the all the parties involved in prevention,
such as Labour inspection.
In Syria, the lack of workers’ and employers’ awareness on the importance of OSH, the
weakness of the OSH Inspection services in quantity and quality, the lack of a National
OSH strategy, and the lack of experiences and financial potentials in the field of OSH
were reported to be the main reasons for the improper enforcement of OSH legislation.
In countries such as Lebanon and Iraq, enforcement is very much linked to the security,
and political and social factors, and thus, they are not always properly enforced.
3.6.
OSH Legislation Coverage of the Workforce
The percentage of OSH legislation coverage of the economically active population varies
from one country to another; yet, in most countries, the legislation states that all workers
should be covered; however, implementation would be exclusive to certain economical
sectors in some countries, or certain cities and districts in others.
For instance, the informal sector is not covered in several countries such as Algeria,
Kuwait, Syria and Palestine. In other countries, family businesses, the military and the
public sectors, and the agricultural sectors are not covered.
In Lebanon, coverage is mainly in the vicinity of the capital and the major cities, leaving
the rest of the areas insufficiently covered. Table 9 includes the covered and uncovered
sectors in the studied countries.
19
4. LABOUR INSPECTION SYSTEM
Labour inspection is necessary for the implementation and application of standards,
policies, systems, and programs. Inspection is vital for it proves occurring actions,
infringements at the worksites, and specifies certain ways for working out problems;
inspectors also work to enforce the required implementations.
Inspection contributes well to the Decent Work agenda because it represents a crucial
ingredient of a National Occupational Safety and Health System, and supports the
tripartite approach to Labour relations.16
Workers and enterprises are inspected in order to point out the OSH deficiencies at the
worksite and try to work them out. In the countries under study, inspectors observe the
existing working conditions, record occupational accidents and diseases, increase the
awareness of workers and employers on OSH issues, and take the necessary actions upon
the detection of OSH infringements. However, in various countries, there are various
circumstances shaping the existing inspecting services.
Table 10 includes information on the Inspection coverage at the studied countries.
4.1. Inspection Coverage
Most countries have no accurate statistics on the inspected enterprises, however, in
reality, in different countries, inspection varies according to various characteristics such
as: the size of the enterprises, its location in urban vs. rural areas, and the concerned
sector (formal/informal, public/private…).
The percentage of inspected enterprises varied in various countries. Algeria reported 35%
coverage of all eligible enterprises while in Bahrain it’s less than 1%. Table 10 lists the
economically active population that is covered by inspection. Official statistics are not
readily available, and the respondents have estimated these percentages which varied in
various countries.
For instance, while in Bahrain 70% to 80% of economically active population are
inspected in local enterprises, trans-national companies and private institutions, Algeria
reported that inspection is insufficient due to the fact that labour inspectors lacks the
necessary training. Table 10 lists the responses in detail.
Similarly, with respect to the responses received, no accurate statistics on the number of
inspected enterprises per year was offered. Most countries have mentioned that there are
no recent statistics on the matter or that the percentage is relatively low compared to the
total workforce. However, in other countries such as Egypt, Sudan, and UAE, the
respondents reported that all registered enterprises are covered.
In a number of countries, all types of enterprises are eligible for inspection, as in Algeria,
Tunisia, Egypt, Kuwait, KSA, Sudan, UAE, and Yemen, while in the others, inspection is
exclusive to certain sectors. For instance, in Iraq, priority is given for inspecting
hazardous enterprises due to the turbulent security situation, in others, such as Lebanon,
16
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
20
Bahrain, and many others, inspection is performed upon receiving a complaint. Table 10
provides detailed data on this issue.
4.2. Criteria for Inspection Coverage
As mentioned above, in some countries, inspection covers all institutions regardless of
the type and sector, however, in some others, where there are not enough inspecting
services, certain criteria are considered in order to choose the enterprises to be inspected.
The criteria for inspection is most of the time upon workers’ complaints raised to the
inspection services, as in Lebanon, Iraq, Bahrain, and others. In Algeria, the criteria for
labour inspection are based on legislative and regulatory dispositions; in addition to the
visits upon workers’complaints, two other types of inspection exist: regular visits and
sudden visits. In other cases, inspection is based on the type of work, the size of the
enterprise, or the average number of occupational hazards present at the worksite (such as
accidents and diseases) as in Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, and others. Sometimes even,
inspection is exclusive to certain sectors such as the organized and the investment
institutions like in Yemen. This definitively demonstrate the lack of defined objectives
and planning
There’s a serious variation in the number of enterprises eligible for inspection in the
various countries. In Tunisia and KSA, all institutions are inspected, while in other
countries only part of the whole economic institutions is covered; on the other hand, in
some countries, there are no available data on this indicator.
4.3.Inspection Services
Inspection services are the various methods that inspectors use for the assessment of
workplaces regarding OSH aspects. Table 11 summarizes the inspection services in the
various Arab states.
Various types of inspection services exist in the different Arab countries under study. In
some countries, there are random and/or specific inspection programmes. Inspections are
undertaken upon workers’ and orders’ complaints and the detection of occupational
accidents or diseases as in Bahrain, Egypt, and others. Inspection is in some cases
administrative, inspecting the general working environment, while in others it is
specialized against specific hazards; chemical, natural, or others. In the latter case,
inspection is processed by physicians and engineers as in Tunisia, Sudan and Syria.
Inspection is sometimes undertaken during nation-wide sectors’ campaigns as in Bahrain
and Egypt (Table 11).
As for the time lapse between the inspection campaigns, there’s a vast difference among
the various countries; in some they would be regular, with frequency ranging between
random daily inspections as in Lebanon, and yearly inspections as in Egypt and Kuwait;
In some countries as Kuwait, Yemen, and Morocco inspection is every other month; and
in the others, inspection is random based on the sector concerned, complaints received,
the enterprises’ districts, and other indicators. Table 10 includes information on the
frequency of inspection in the various countries.
21
4.4.Inspectors
Inspectors are the ones perceived as to link the actual OSH situation on the ground to the
authorities responsible for maintaining a proper OSH situation. Inspectors’ background,
however, may vary from one country to another. Table 12 includes all the relevant
information.
In different countries, several inspectors perform the inspection activities. In some
countries, inspectors are divided into categories; administrative, physicians, engineers,
chemists, technicians, and general OSH inspectors (Table 12).
Countries have different prerequisites for the appointment of inspectors. In some
countries, a degree such as a Doctor of philosophy in sciences, or a Doctor of Medicine is
required while in other a Masters or Bachelor Degree in sciences or engineering is
necessary. In countries like Qatar, a High School Diploma is considered enough while in
others like KSA, a technical degree is needed (Table 12).
The variations in the requirements for assigning the inspectors are expected to result in
dissimilar inspection performance among Arab countries. The more educated and
specialized inspectors are believed to perform better and conduct more efficient
inspection.
As for training, inspectors are expected to attend a certain number of training courses. In
some countries, seminars, workshops, and lectures are held while others focus on
conducting training sessions concerning OSH legislative issues, laws and regulations,
inspection techniques, and evaluation of the risks and hazards at the work site. In Egypt,
for instance, the training is categorized into: Basic OSH training, Advanced OSH
training, OSH training of various services, and specialized OSH training based on the
inspector’s specialty (Table 12).
Most countries perform training sessions on a regular basis rather than at the beginning of
one’s work. Sometimes inspectors attend training sessions abroad.
Usually various authorities coordinate the training of inspectors. The Ministry of Labour
is mainly responsible for OSH training in addition to other administrative bodies within
the ministries such as OSH administration in Syria and Tunisia, or the Bureau of Civil
Services in Bahrain.
Universities offering specialized OSH education are not always available in the Arab
region. However, nearly all universities offer OSH-related courses in the curriculum of
the medical, engineering or public health schools.
The presence of technical institutions is also not consistent throughout the region. In few
countries such as in Tunisia technical training tackles various skills including OSHrelated legislation, inspection techniques, evaluation of occupational exposure to physical
and chemical contaminants and promoting specialties in electrical, constructive and
22
mechanical safety and health preparation. On the other hand, the respondent from Kuwait
reported having a theoretical and practical training for the inspectors while inspectors
undergo field training while performing their job in Morocco (Table 12 & 13).
We notice that in many countries, inspectors have a legal background and not much
knowledge in OSH. This is also the fact in Arab speaking countries where even if you
have a chemical engineer recruited as an inspector, he is not likely to be able to deal with
dangerous equipment. Therefore, one suggestion would be to pool human resources
according to their capacity. Chemical engineers should concentrate on chemical factories;
this should be the criteria for workplace assessment. Mobility of the inspectors is a
prerequisite to be considered in such a case. Another important issue to be debated are the
salaries and status of inspectors.
4.5. Powers of Inspectors
The privileges of inspectors in performing their inspection duties vary across the region.
In general, inspectors have the following rights by law as reported by most respondents in
various countries:
▫ Entering the worksite with no previous warning during working hours.
▫ Checking the records, documents, and files of the workers.
▫ Taking samples at the worksite and testing the machines and the various
constituents.
▫ Ordering necessary changes in order to provide safety conditions.
▫ Interviewing the employers or their representatives on any of the topics related to
the enforcement of the Labour code.
▫ The right to charge the employers in case of infringement.
However in countries such as Lebanon, inspectors have minimal privileges in performing
their inspection duties where the employer doesn’t always comply to their demands
because of the political/economic situation in the country.
4.6.Difficulties Faced by Inspectors
Although inspectors face different challenges in the various studied countries, the main
obstacles they face are as follows:
▫ Geographically scattered institutions cause difficult access in addition to
insufficient address information.
▫ Presence of disordered administration (as the case in Lebanon).
▫ Lack of specialties in inspection and observation.
▫ Lack of cooperation from some employers.
▫ Administrative routine.
▫ Lack of financial incentive.
▫ Transportation difficulties.
▫ In some countries, as in Bahrain, the existence of multiple legislative and
inspecting bodies, and the lack of awareness of employers and workers on OSH
Laws hinder inspectors from doing their jobs.
23
4.7. Reporting
According to the respondents, in all countries, inspectors report the infringements they
spot at the work site.
Respondents from all countries reported that once the inspectors’ reports are received, the
authorities follow-up on them until the infringements are adjusted, and OSH measures are
applied properly in the enterprise.
In case employers fail to act on the necessary modifications, they are exposed to financial
or legal charges, depending on the country’s legislation.
Charges on the employer vary according to the laws present. In most countries under
study, employers are either suspended from working, or are forced to pay fines,
depending on the infringement committed. In some countries, such as Egypt, employers
are imprisoned upon the occurrence of a serious damage.
There should also be a link between reporting of accidents by the inspectorate and
preventive measures to be designed and applied in the enterprise where the accident took
place. Obviously there is no such mechanism existing or ever thought of in any of the
countries.
5.
OSH SPECIALISTS’ EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND INFORMATION
5.1. National Roster of OSH Specialists
Only Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, KSA, UAE, Morocco, and Yemen have reported having
National rosters established for OSH specialists. However, it was not clear where those
specialists work, whether in governmental services or private enterprises.
Those registers include all OSH specialists in order to organize their work and set an
improvement scheme. However, only in Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, UAE, Qatar,
and Morocco are OSH specialists registered by category and specialty, although the
rosters aren’t present in all of these countries. Unfortunately, the remaining countries
have no such arrangement.
The number of OSH specialists varies in different countries. The education of OSH
professionals varies from one country to another depending on their specialties.
The educational requirements for those specialists vary according to their specialties;
ranging between medical doctors, engineers, and others are recruited from University
Bachelors or Masters holders. In Sudan, technical diploma is needed while in countries
such as Lebanon, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, KSA, and Tunisia, a
university degree is essential.
The countries providing training for the specialists are Lebanon, where field training is
offered, Algeria, Qatar, and Tunisia, where training involves OSH legislation, public
24
administration, investigation, preventive measures, and OSH technicalities and codes of
practice. Also similar programmes exist in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, KSA, Sudan, and
UAE.
Sometimes, the ministries are involved in the training process; otherwise, local institutes
are there to provide technical training.
Kuwait is the only country that reported the existence of an order for OSH specialists.
Orders are important to guarantee workers’ proper rights and working conditions. It is
important that orders be established for specialists so they attain certain privileges, their
job rights become more assured.
5.2.
OSH-related University Curricula and Technical Training Agencies
So far, in the Arab Countries, OSH education hasn’t been integrated in the college
curricula as a separate major, but rather as separate courses incorporated into the
programmes of other majors mainly engineering, medicine and public health schools.
The related majors are mainly those at the faculties of medicine and engineering.
It is worth mentioning, however, that in Lebanon at the Université St. Joséph, there’s a
postgraduate specialty degree in OSH; Jordan also has plans to establish a degree in
Safety at the Belkaa Practical University.
In some countries, technical institutes would integrate material on OSH into their
curricula, such as in Oman, Qatar,KSA, Syria, UAE, and Yemen (Table 13).
Training agencies exist in the most of the countries under study; for example, theoretical
and practical training is offered at KSA, and legislative and application in Tunisia. Table
13 provides data on the main technical programmes and training they provide.
Mainly MOL’s are the official authorities providing training in all the studied countries,
specifically through specialized bureaus such as Civil Service in Bahrain, or other
administrations in other countries. In some other countries, such as Algeria, Egypt,
Tunisia, and other specialized OSH institutions that are involved in OSH aspects such as
the National Institute of hydrocarbons in Algeria which provides training for safety and
hygiene specialists. Also in Algeria, various OSH structures function under the umbrella
of the Ministry of labour, employment, and social security, such as, the National Institute
for the prevention from professional risks, the Algerian professional institute for the
prevention from the risks of public and hydraulic work, Health services in big enterprises,
Hospital-University centres, and the health sectors.
Technical institutions providing researches and studies for improving the OSH action
plan are only present in Tunisia, Egypt, UAE, and Algeria.
It would be interesting to gather further information about the quality of the OSH degrees
provided in each country, the number of OSH graduates per year, and in which sectors do
OSH specialists end up working.
25
5.3. Information Centres
Countries having national and collaborating OSH Centres for Information System (CIS)
are Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and
Yemen.
Libya declared its will to create its own CIS during the Damascus workshop on OSH in
the Arab region in November 2007.
The activities held by information centres are similar in all countries. Information centres
prepare awareness posters, booklets, training and workshops. Research studies are also
carried out by the information centres.
BOX 5 : REGIONAL CIS CENTER
“Following extensive collaboration with the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) Institute
of Occupational Health and Safety, the Institute was named a Regional CIS Centre,
an initiative that is expected to initiate more exchange of OSH experience between
ILO and ALO. Several CIS Centres in the Arab world helped to translate the
International Chemical Safety Cards into Arabic. Training on OSH information
management was provided to the staff of CIS National Centre in Morocco.”
Takala, J.. Introductory Report: Decent Work - Safe Work. XVIIth World Congress on Safety and Health at
Work. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2005.
5.3.1. Mechanism for Disseminating Information
In countries with information centres, the mechanism of information dissemination is
usually achieved through publications statistics, workshops, trainings, conferences, the
Internet, mail, and direct contact with OSH experts, and disseminating information. The
mechanism is usually that the Ministry of Labour informs inspectors, and the inspectors
would take it upon themselves to inform the workers on OSH issues.
It would be desirable to obtain additional data on how OSH information is disseminated,
and if any mechanism for its evaluation is in place at any of the countries.
5.4. Specialized Technical, Medical, and Scientific Institutions
Standardization agencies are only established in Algeria, Sudan and Tunisia. In Algeria,
the National Commission of Homologation of the Standards of Effectiveness of Products,
Devices or Apparatuses of Protection was created in October 28, 2001 and is in charge of
standardization in the country, in addition, there’s also the Algerian Institute of
Standardization at the Ministry of Industry. Other countries such as Bahrain, Egypt,
Jordan, Oman and others have standardizing programmes in their legislation, but no
established agencies are in place.
Also in Algeria, there are various specialized institutions that take charge of specific risks
depending on their domains, and evaluate risks; namely, The National Center of
26
Toxicology (Chemical and Toxicological Risks), The National Institute of Public Health
(Epidemiology), and various laboratories for testing safety, such as the National
Laboratory for the Control of the Medicinal Products at the Ministry for Health,
Population and Hospital reform. In other countries such as UAE, the MOL, MOH and
MOInt provide research facilities, yet no specialized OSH laboratories exist.
In most countries such as Lebanon and Jordan, OSH research is undertaken by professors
and students at academic institutions (universities) rather than in specialized research
centres and institutes. However, in Algeria, The National Institute for the Prevention of
the Occupational Hazards has the role of undertaking any activity concerning the
promotion and improvement of the conditions of hygiene and safety at the working
environment and to implement formation, development, and research programmes in the
field of occupational hazards prevention.
In Egypt, research is carried out by institutes such as The National Centre for OSH
studies and the OSH Research Units at the Ministry of Manpower and Migration; in
Tunisia, similar research centers conduct OSH research. In Libya, the high OSH institute
undertakes OSH research.
Poison control centres are available in all countries except in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, and Yemen.
Unfortunately, the absence of specialized OSH institutes in most studied countries
weakens OSH reform which is driven by contextualized OSH research relevant to local
scenarios.
6.
NATIONAL SYSTEM FOR NOTIFICATION AND RECORDING
Notification and recording on occupational accidents and diseases are essential to
produce OSH statistics, which are needed to guide any improvement in a country’s OSH
situation. All countries reported to have an ongoing system for the notification of
occupational accidents except for Libya and UAE. Also most countries reported having a
notification system for occupational disease except for Kuwait, Libya, UAE, KSA and
Lebanon.
The ILO 1995 code of practice for the notification and recording of occupational
accidents and diseases is applied in Syria, Qatar, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco Sudan,
and UAE.
6.1. Occupational Diseases
Respondents reported having a National list of occupational diseases in their country. In
Algeria, Lebanon, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar the list is not identical to that of the
ILO; however, the ILO list was considered in the preparation of the National list.
Reporting occupational diseases remains incomplete and negligible in most countries and
certain sectors are not covered. For instance, the public sector is not covered by the
27
reporting system in Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait and Oman and the informal sector is also
not covered in Syria (Table 15).
The mechanism of reporting also varies from one country to another. In general,
questionnaires are usually filled in countries such as Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan
Reporting is done within a short period of time following the occurrence of the disease,
for example within 48 hours in Morocco.
6.2. Occupational Accidents
The data provided by countries on occupational accidents lacked precision such that
Tunisia, Syria, Sudan, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman reported that 90-100% of the occurring
accidents are being recorded whereas the rest of the countries provided lower estimates;
on the other hand, Morocco, KSA, Egypt, UAE and Yemen did not provide any statistics
(Table 15).
The exclusion of certain sectors is common in countries where accident reporting takes
place. For example, family businesses and the governmental, public, agricultural and the
informal sectors are not covered in UAE, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Morocco.
The mechanism of reporting of accidents varies from one country to another. In Jordan,
Sudan, Bahrain and Yemen, an action notification form is filled and handed to the
authorities. It should usually be within a certain time from the occurrence of the accident,
for example it’s within 24 hours in Bahrain. On the other hand, in Egypt, enterprises
organize statistical data every 6 months on occupational accidents and inform the
responsible administration at the ministry.
7.
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SYSTEMS
“For the ILO, social protection corresponds to a set of tools, instruments, policies which,
through government action and constant social dialogue, aim at ensuring that men and
women enjoy working conditions which are not only not harmful, but as safe as possible,
which permit access to adequate social and medical services and allow for adequate
compensation in case of lost or reduced income, whether it be due to sickness,
unemployment, maternity, invalidity, loss of breadwinner or old age. As such,
occupational safety and health occupies a central position within the scope of social
protection.”17
7.1.
Coverage
All countries claim to have a workers’ compensation system; however, the percentage of
the economically active population receiving the compensation is not in conformity
throughout the entire region.
Many countries have no accurate statistics, such as Lebanon, while some other countries
report to have the whole economically active population covered, such as Algeria, Oman,
17
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
28
Qatar, and UAE. Some countries have in their laws full coverage for workers, yet, in
practice, a small percentage is covered (Table 16).
7.2. Agencies Responsible for Compensation
Agencies covering the compensation also vary in different countries. In some, it is the
responsibility of private insurance companies (Lebanon and Morocco); in others, it’s that
of the government. In Bahrain and Kuwait, it’s the private institutions’ responsibility to
serve the private sector while the public institutions serve the public sector.
Only in few countries are those agencies connected to other institutions; mainly to
prevention services, notification data collection, and to a lesser extent rehabilitation
centres. Many countries, however, are not connected to any, such as Yemen, KSA,
Oman, Morocco, Lebanon, Bahrain, Palestine, and Iraq. Kuwait has the agencies linked
to insurance companies.
It is important to learn more on the compensation services available in each country, how
complex or clear-cut the compensation process gets in various situations, and whether
trade unions are involved in the social dialogue.
8.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES
Occupational Heath Services are the services offered for workers to protect them from
work hazards at the workplace.
All countries have such services, except for Lebanon, KSA and Bahrain. However, while
in Algeria, Oman and UAE all the enterprises provide their workers with occupational
health services, only 15% of enterprises provide such services in Syria.
Many countries, however such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, KSA, and Yemen
didn’t provide statistics.
8.1. Occupational Health Services Problems and Deficiencies
While Algeria and KSA have reported that there have been no problems with
occupational health services; the rest of the countries have reported various difficulties
faced by those services. In Egypt, for instance, there are difficulties in inspecting all
workers, while in Libya, the main problem is the unavailability of statistics on
occupational diseases, accidents, and mortalities. Other countries have as well multiple
deficiencies in their occupational health services; such that small enterprises are not
covered in Morocco, and there are deficiencies in OSH resources and specialists with
technical expertise as in Kuwait, KSA, Jordan, Syria and Oman. On the other hand,
countries such as Egypt, Syria, and Yemen have a deficiency in the budget allocated for
occupational health services (Table 17).
In some countries occupational health services are under the MOH. When feasible,
bridges and partnerships are to be established between MOL and MOH through a wellcoordinated approach.
8.2.
National OSH Management Systems
29
ILO-OSH 2001 sets a systematic approach for the proper management of OSH issues. An
effective system requires the full commitment of workers, employers, and the
government.
According to C155, the employer has full responsibility over providing a safe and healthy
working environment through setting a documented programme, available for workers,
and including principles of prevention, hazard identification, risk assessment and control,
information and training. Workers, on the other hand, need to cooperate for proper
implementation of the OSH programme through respecting and applying rules and
regulations for protection from occupational hazards and prevention from occupational
hazards. Workers participation could range from joining “safety and health committees to
union representatives to work councils, or other joint structures.”
“ILO-OSH 2001 puts the participation of workers and their representatives at the heart of
a systems approach to occupational safety and health management. It clearly identifies
the employer’s responsibility to ensure that workers are consulted, informed and trained
on all aspects of occupational safety and health. It also requires the employer to enable
full and effective worker participation, by ensuring that workers have sufficient time and
resources to do so. While other models are possible, the Guidelines particularly
recommend joint safety and health committees as a mechanism for worker participation
in the management of occupational safety and health”.18
8.3.
Adoption of ILO OSH-Management System 2001 Guidelines
“The guidelines provide employers with a systematic tool to help protect workers from
hazards and eliminate work-related injuries, ill health, diseases, accidents and deaths.
They reflect ILO values such as tripartism and relevant international standards on
occupational safety and health. The Management System Guidelines include five key
steps: Policy, Organizing, Planning and implementation, Evaluation, and Action for
improvement.”
“In the new Convention, these steps are transposed to the national level, to form the
Convention’s three main tools: national policy, national system and national
programme”.19
Qatar, Morocco, Jordan, Oman, and Lebanon don’t have a National OSH management system,
yet, for the countries that have one, only Egypt, Kuwait, KSA, Sudan, UAE, Syria, Tunisia,
and Yemen is based on the ILO 2001 code of practice.
Countries that don’t follow OSH-Management System 2001 have other systems based on
the National decrees or legislation as reported by the Moroccan and Lebanese
respondents.
18
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007
19
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007
30
Countries are encouraged to report the approach adopted for applying OSH guidelines at
the enterprise-level.
9.
NATIONAL OSH POLICIES AND PROGRAMMES
9.1.
OSH national policies
Respondents from Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Kuwait, KSA, Sudan, UAE, Qatar and Yemen
reported having a national OSH policy in their countries. The rest of the countries
reported not having them; yet, in fact none of the 18 countries have an actual OSH policy
with its correct definition in the convention. It may be possible that the response was
conceived to address the existence of a national plan or programme instead of a national
policy.
The oldest country to adopt such a policy was Tunisia in 1991; and the latest plans were
adopted in Qatar in 2005, Syria in 2006, and Sudan in 2007.
Mainly the MOL in every country is responsible for the implementation of the so-called
national policy, in collaboration with other administrations.
According to the ILO standards, a policy should be adopted by a tripartite body and
endorsed by the highest national authority, which is not the case in those countries.
9.2
OSH Programmes
National programmes are strategic programmes with a predetermined time frame that
focus on specific national priorities for OSH, identified through the analysis of the
national OSH system and an up-to-date national profile.
National programmes are to improve on a continuous basis the weak or inefficient
elements of the OSH national system identified through the monitoring and evaluation of
the system’s performance. The programmes have defined objectives, outputs, deadlines,
financial resources, as outlined in Recommendation 197 accompanying C 187.
Consultation of representative organizations of employers and workers is essential to the
successful development and implementation of national programmes. It is also important
to have them widely publicized, endorsed and launched by the highest authorities.
The OSH programmes reported to be endorsed by the senior governments in Egypt,
Kuwait, Libya, Sudan, UAE, and Yemen are not exactly considered as national OSH
programmes. None of the countries have provided an explicit pioneer programme
endorsed on its territories.
It was clear that the most widely endorsed OSH project in the studied countries deals
with child labour, followed by programs on construction safety, mining, and silicosis
(Refer to Table 14). However, it should be noted that the child labour programme
effectively deals with child labour; and although it may contain chapters on hazardous
31
work for children, it does not represent a discrete OSH programme. Furthermore, it
would be useful to learn more about any national programme initiated by the constituents
themselves and not those directly propagated by the ILO or UNDP such as those reported
by respondents.
9.3. Funding
In general, OSH projects are funded by the ministries involved; that is from the public
budget. Only Yemen and Sudan have given an estimate of the budget allocated for the
OSH plan, yet, they reported that the amount is not enough to cover all the expenses of
the OSH plan. Other countries did not report an estimated budget for the OSH program.
9.4. Major Achievements of the Programmes
OSH programmes are important means to achieve OSH improvements in the workplace.
The aims of these programmes are to promote the development and maintenance of a
preventative safety and health culture in which the right to a safe and healthy
environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers and workers
actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system
of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the principle of prevention is
accorded the highest priority.
In Tunisia, major successes were achieved in the past few years; for instance, the
legislation was amended to make it more suitable with the economical needs, a profession
of Safety was established within institutions, a centre for reporting occupational accidents
was initiated and various other important achievements. As a result, statistics of
occupational accidents in Tunisia dropped from 43.2 accident/1000 workers in 1995 to
33.3 accident /1000 worker in 2005; despite the increase in the labour force by 50% and
the increase in economical activities within the same period.
In Yemen 13 branches of OSH departments at the different districts were established,
OSH legislation was completed; several OSH trainings, conferences, and workshops were
organized. In addition, booklets on OSH legislation and national OSH Guides are also
prepared and published for awareness purposes
In Algeria a national Institute for the prevention of the occupational hazards was created.
Its role is to undertake any activity concerning the promotion and the improvement of the
conditions of hygiene and safety at the working environment and to implement training,
development, and research programmes in the field of the prevention of occupational
hazards.
Conferences aiming to raise OSH-awareness are held in all countries but Qatar, Lebanon,
Syria, Oman, KSA, Sudan, and Yemen. In the countries where conferences are held such
as KSA, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco and Jordan, the main issues tackled are the
prevention from working hazards, prevention of occupational accidents, and international
collaboration.
10.
NATIONAL OSH ADVISORY BODY/SAFETY COUNCIL
32
10.1. Tripartite bodies
Social dialogue among employers, workers, and governments is essential for attaining a
safer and healthier working environment. “Respect for the principle of freedom of
association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining is a core
ILO value” (convention 87 and 98) stated in the ILO declaration on fundamental
principles and the right of work. Through this role, social dialogue is an important
component of the Decent Work agenda. 20
The right to form and organize workers’ and employers’ organizations is at heart of the
collective bargaining and social dialogue that the ILO calls for, and is guarded by
“Respect for the principles and of the freedom of Association and Protection of the right
to organize convention” (C87), and the “Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining
Convention” (C98).20
Respondents from all countries reported having a tripartite committee dealing with OSH
legislation; only Kuwait Lebanon and Libya reported not having a tripartite OSH
committee. However, an officially recognized tripartite committee involving workers,
employers and government is only present in Jordan.
The major function of a national OSH advisory body (Committee, council) is not only to
deal with legislation. It is to decide on the national OSH policy and programme.
Tripartite councils have the role of proposing, reviewing, and developing the national
legislation and standards on the protection, safety, and health of workers and working
environments, studying and evaluating the proposed ratifications of the Arab and
international conventions relating to OSH and the working environment. In order for a
national OSH Committee to be efficient, it has to meet regularly, have a secretariat; the
role and mandate of its members should be clearly defined.
20
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007
33
BOX 6: Partnership
“A cooperation agreement was signed between the ILO and the GCC Executive Bureau
relating to the promotion of tripartism and social dialogue and the realization of fundamental
principles and rights at work. As part of the Decent Work Pilot Programme in Bahrain, efforts
were exerted to promote social dialogue on critical national issues related to labour market
reform, the new labour law, wage policy, employment policies, social security systems and
VET policies. In Iraq, social dialogue helped in the elaboration of the labour code and in
identifying priorities for job creation and employment generation. In the occupied Arab
territories, social dialogue enhanced the effective participation of the social partners in the
establishment and management of the Palestinian Fund for Employment and Social Protection
and in the elaboration of the new labour code. In Yemen, social dialogue opened the path for
the social partners to participate in the elaboration of the labour code, in promoting gender
mainstreaming and in the implementation of the project on combating child labour. In Jordan,
an ILO/US-DOL project helped improve the legal framework for social dialogue and
strengthened the capacities and negotiating skills of the labour administration staff of the
Ministry of Labour, as well as those of the representatives of the employers’ and workers’
organizations. The Saudi Arabia Council of Ministers approved a decree concerning rules for
the establishment of labour committees at the enterprise level and held discussions with the
ILO on future regulatory conditions for establishing a worker’s committee and adopting new
legislation relating to freedom of association.”
Source: International Labour Office, Decent work in Asia: Reporting on Results 2001 – 05. Fourteenth Asian
Regional Meeting, Busan, Republic of Korea, August – September 2006, International Labour Office (ILO),
Geneva, 2006.
Tripartite committees are reported to exist in Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and Tunisia. In
Lebanon and Libya, respondents reported that there are no such bodies, while the rest of
the countries reported National advisory bodies of collaborating governmental,
employers’, and workers’ organizations, or other committees on specific tasks.
The Activities organized by those bodies slightly vary in the various countries depending
on their nature and membership. For instance, Algeria, which reported having tripartite
bodies, the bodies meet and prepare reports on the situation of OSH and the policies
implemented annually. In other countries, those bodies have various other roles, such as
providing feedback concerning OSH legislation, in Tunisia, in addition to the evaluation
of the national programme for prevention from the occupational hazards (Table 18).
10.2. Coordination with ILO
Algeria, Bahrain, Sudan, and Tunisia are the only countries that have coordinated
projects and activities with the ILO.
34
BOX 7: Partnership between Arab countries and ILO
The ILO has over and again stressed the importance of knowledge through education and
training in order to improve the skills needed for improving the working life, and so, the ILO has
helped the Arab states in improving the vocational education and training (VET) system
attaining a better approach focused on demand, and more flexible training programmes.
The ILO’s technical assistance to the Arab states has been through applying the ILO’s Modules
of Employable Skills (MES) used in reforming VET systems.
-The provided services have allowed National VET reforms in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, the
occupied Arab territories, and Oman.
-Progressive training of the vulnerable youth, unemployed, and others have been implemented
in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Arab territories, Oman, and Yemen.
-Published training packages contributing to the ongoing technical cooperation in Iraq, Jordan,
and the occupied Arab territories.
-The establishment of a knowledge base at the ILO Regional office in Beirut, and other
countries in the region.
-Training workshops in collaboration with the ILO International Training Centre, Turin, in Jordan
and Iraq.
“-A comprehensive vocational education and training scheme was developed in close
collaboration with ILO-IPEC, which includes training methodologies, tools and guidelines that
support pre-employment training activities for 14-17 year old boys and girls through pilot
programmes under ongoing IPEC projects in the Arab States.
-A web-based platform with an information database for the networking of Arab vocational
training providers and experts was designed to: (a) exchange information and experience in
VET design and delivery; (b) promote the concept of employment-oriented modular training; (c)
provide a knowledge and resource base for employment-oriented modular training programmes
and didactic materials; and (d) provide advisory services to countries and institutions advocating
and introducing competency-based modular training.”
Source: International Labour Office, Decent work in Asia: Reporting on Results 2001 – 05. Fourteenth Asian
Regional Meeting, Busan, Republic of Korea, August – September 2006, International Labour Office (ILO), Geneva,
2006.
In Algeria, there are certain common projects with the ILO such as awareness campaigns,
research studies, and organizing other OSH-related activities. Similarly in Tunisia, the
Tunisian Occupational Safety and Health Institute (TOSHI) collaborates with the ILO
and WHO in OSH research, training of staff, organization of seminars, and participation
in providing necessary educational equipment for university studies in the fields of
occupational medicine, occupational nursing, occupational hygiene, and professional
toxicology.
In Bahrain, the coordination is viewed in light of the ILO’s recommendation of initiating
a National Policy and National Committee. In Sudan, the main projects are the initiation
of the OSH and Worksite Institute, and a central National testing and standardizing
centre.
10.3.
Roles of Employers’ Federations
35
In general, employers are supposed, according to their duties by law, to provide
information and training on occupational hazards at the workplace and perform a risk
assessment of the processes, equipment, facilitates, working conditions, etc. of their
enterprise. They are also by law responsible for providing a safe and healthy working
place to the workers, offering analysis of the work conditions.
The extent to which employers are able to make a difference in the OSH situation varies
from one country to another. For instance, in Jordan, employers take part in (1)
organizing training for workers and employers on OSH, (2) the protection of the working
environment, (3) providing financial and logistic support for OSH activities such as the
National OSH week, (4) taking part with the other parties in inspection visits that the
OSH National committees perform, (5) organizing programmes (lectures, workshops,
publications) that aim at raising workers’ and employers’ OSH awareness, (6)
representing the employers in the committees that put, review, and modify OSH
legislation, and (7) calling for duty-free OSH equipment and personal preventive
equipment to facilitate its distribution among the workers.
For instance, in Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Yemen, employers have been active in
workers’ health promotion campaigns.
Risk assessment is by large not a systematic way of dealing with OSH by employers of
the 18 countries, apart from multi national enterprises operating on their territories. OSH
Management system is by large not implemented either.
Employers should be convinced that good safety is good business for them and for the
national OSH system. Means to develop their awareness on this aspect of OSH should be
envisaged by the national programme.
In other countries, employers join committees, take part in the consultations to ratify
conventions, and set certain standards and collaborate with other organizations through
advisory bodies, such as in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, and Syria.
10.4. Roles of Workers’ Unions
Workers also have an advisory role in the countries where there are national tripartite
OSH councils through providing feedback and evaluation of the ratification of
conventions, or the preparation of national policies, legislation and programmes.
However, in the various countries, the workers have different roles and privileges
depending on the local legislation and conditions. For instance, in Jordan, workers are
mainly involved in (1) organizing OSH training for workers especially in the dangerous
sectors, (2) representing the workers at the negotiations with the employers on OSHrelated issues, (3) raising OSH awareness through lectures, conferences, and publications,
(4) taking part in the activities of OSH committees at the local, sectoral, and institutional
levels, and (5) representing the workers’ orders that set, review, and modify OSH
legislation in order to protect the workers’ rights.
36
We notice that in Jordan, which has a tripartite committee, workers and employers have
similar roles in this committee, mainly aiming at improving the local OSH situation. It is
also worth mentioning that workers representation isn’t always equally effective in all the
countries; for instance, Oman has only recently established workers’ orders; UAE, on the
other hand, hasn’t yet established workers’ orders, while employers’ orders are missing in
the Kingdom of KSA.
Unions have a crucial role in promoting OSH at all levels and protecting the life of
workers. Responses have focused on their possible influence at national level; the
possibility to act at enterprise level was not adequately referred to.
For enterprises, in most countries with more than 50 workers, there is an OSH committee.
It would be informative to obtain further information on the role of those committees in
OSH decision-making, and the extent to which they tend to influence OSH in their
working environment.
11.
NATIONAL OSH SITUATION
11.1 National Profile
Only Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine have prepared a national OSH
profile document. The other countries that do not have a national profile so far, reported
their willingness to prepare this document.
Respondents from countries without a national profile document referred to other
documents that are used to partially describe the current country OSH situation. These
documents include legislative literature, decrees, guides, reports, and OSH situation
assessments.
BOX 8: Brief OSH write-up in the Arab States
OSH legislation and activities in the Arab states have been developed in reference to
the ILO codes of practice, tools and instruments.
“■ Saudi Arabia ratified the Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention,
1993 (No. 174), Lebanon ratified the Occupational Safety and Health (Dock Work)
Convention, 1979 (No. 152), Bahrain has started the process of ratifying the
Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174), and the Syrian
37
Arab Republic is in the process of ratifying the Safety and Health in Agriculture
Convention, 2001 (No. 184).
■ An agreement signed with the Gulf Cooperation Council resulted in assistance
being given by the ILO to revise and update the Council of Ministers’ legislative
decrees in the field of OSH and to prepare OSH guides for the oil and petrochemical
industries.
■ OSH monitoring units have been established at the governorate level in north and
south Lebanon. Under the IPEC national project framework, a programme was
initiated to improve safety and health measures in small industrial establishments
and to raise the awareness of children and parents about occupational safety and
health hazards and risks.
■ The capacities of OSH training institutions have been developed, including through
the production of OSH educational materials in Arabic, the publication of a chemical
safety book for secondary schools, the publication of text books in Arabic, the
revision of OSH training curricula in the Syrian Arab Republic and the design of a
two-year diploma course in OSH at the Ministry of Labour in Saudi Arabia.
■ A study has been conducted on restructuring the OSH Unit at the Ministry of
Labour and Social Affairs in the United Arab Emirates.
■An occupational safety and health profile for Kuwait was published and a situational
analysis of OSH in Lebanon was also completed.
■ The International Occupational Safety and Health Information Centres (CIS) in
Jordan and the Syrian Arab Republic have been strengthened. Joint OSH activities
with the Arab Labour Organization Institute of Occupational Health and Safety
culminated in its designation as a Regional CIS Centre.
■ A study on OSH in the informal economy in Lebanon has been completed.
Source: International Labour Office, Decent work in Asia: Reporting on Results 2001 – 05. Fourteenth
Asian Regional Meeting, Busan, Republic of Korea, August – September 2006, International Labour Office
(ILO), Geneva, 2006.
11.2.
OSH Awareness campaigns
Various campaigns are held in various countries, and in varying frequencies and topics;
ranging from HIV at the workplace, child labour, to other topics. Campaigns include
distribution of booklets, committees, media, and National and/or International OSH day,
such as in Algeria, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Syria, and Tunisia.
All countries have OSH awareness campaigns at the level of the enterprise, yet at various
rates in various countries. Some countries have a regular program which they follow, for
example, the national OSH week in Jordan is during the first week of July, and in Tunisia
and Egypt, a yearly plan for campaigns is set. On the other hand, in Bahrain, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Oman, KSA, and Syria, campaigns are done randomly.
The media takes part in OSH campaigns in Libya, Tunisia and Syria. In other countries,
no reference to the media involvement is mentioned, despite the key role that the media
plays nowadays in disseminating information, and shaping the mentality of the public.
38
11.3. ASBESTOS
Asbestos, which is the hazardous substance causing lung illness is banned in all countries
under study except for Libya, Syria, Morocco, Oman and Yemen. However, banning the
use of Asbestos varies from one country to another. In general, all countries banning
Asbestos ban it fully, except for Tunisia that has partial Asbestos interdiction (Table 19).
11.4. CHEMICAL SAFETY
A National plan on chemical safety exists in all countries except for Lebanon, Libya,
Tunisia, Oman, and Bahrain. Countries having a national plan share the main lines of the
ILO C 170 convention except for Qatar. This is an incentive for all those countries to
ratify the this convention.
Globally Harmonized System (GHS) for classification and labelling is applied in all
countries except in Libya, Morocco, Oman, Sudan, Algeria, and Bahrain. However, of
the countries applying GHS, only Tunisia, Syria, Morocco Egypt, Jordan, UAE and
Yemen have a GHS program. The programmes in those countries vary; for instance, in
Morocco, the programmes aim at setting a suitable framework for handling chemicals for
maintaining the economical interests of the country, and providing an efficient protection
for the population and workers against chemical and poisonous hazards; this program is
processed through the following achievements: The National Chemical plan (achieved),
setting National priorities (achieved), setting a National strategy and action plan in the
field of rational environmental usage of chemical substances (achieved), planning the
storage of financial material (in the process of achievement), and starting the National
Labour programme (in the process of achievement).
In Syria, the aim is to institute a base and network of information and communication on
the dangerous chemical substances. For this purpose, a specialized team from the various
ministries, workers’ orders, and employers’ representatives collaborates to promote
safety measures.
12.
STATISTICS ON WORK-RELATED ACCIDENTS AND DISEASES
The most widely used OSH indicators are those on occupational diseases and accidents.
Data on absenteeism and lifetime working ability, percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes, and average retirement age are not as widely used (Table 20).
Not all countries have regular statistics, some produce them sporadically, such as in
Lebanon, some others produce them yearly, as Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, KSA,
Syria, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen (Table 20).
Few countries have current statistics on occupational safety and health. Some have
submitted recent statistics for the couple past years, such as Oman (2006), Syria, KSA
(1426 h); Tunisia, and Yemen provided recent statistics, yet, the years the data were
collected for the studied indicators weren’t provided in the received responses. Other
countries such as Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Qatar, Sudan, and UAE did
not provide data on the indicators reported to be studied in their countries (Table 20).
39
Statistics on the registered numbers of work-related accidents, diseases, and mortality
vary for different countries according to a number of factors specific to each of the 18
studied countries (Table 21).
In general, statistics are more readily available on occupational accidents rather than
diseases; such that no accurate data on occupational diseases are provided by Bahrain,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, KSA, and UAE, whereas only
Morocco, Qatar, and UAE didn’t provide data on occupational accidents. In addition,
numbers provided on work-related mortality are not comprehensive in a sense that the
only deaths taken into account are those caused by occupational accidents in Bahrain,
Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, KSA, and UAE (Table 21).
The major problem is the under reporting of work related accidents and diseases, not
because of the statistical system, but because reporting and notification are poorly
implemented. This is a serious issue at national and enterprise level, preventing priority
setting by decision makers.
In summary, the results of the current study on OSH situation in the Arab region showed
that Arab countries vary in their health and safety condition, with some countries
showing serious deficiencies in OSH mechanisms and performance. The main obstacles
for OSH improvements include the delayed ratification of ILO-OSH conventions, the
lack of detailed and comprehensive OSH provisions in the local legislation, the absence
of national OSH policies and programs and the weak enforcement of OSH regulations.
Additional obstacles for strengthening national OSH programs include insufficient
reporting and compensation coverage, the lack of accurate and comprehensive data
related to occupational accidents and diseases and failure to incorporate OSH tripartite
advisory bodies in the decision making process on OSH-related matters. In addition,
many countries suffer from insufficient local OSH expertise; the small number of OSH
experts and inspectors render it difficult to implement a successful OSH program.
16.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
The promotion of workers’ health has been evidently linked to the enhancement of
productivity at the workplace and economic growth. Hence, commitment to OSH is a
necessity starting with setting a national policy and strategy for OSH. A successful OSH
management system results from collective agreement between the principal social
partners in the country, the government, workers and employers.
Deficiencies in adopting, enforcing and extending OSH measures and standards in the
Arab region make the workers more vulnerable to workplace hazards and risks. Poverty
40
is an additional risk factor at employment sectors, such that it brings about unhealthy and
unsanitary conditions to the worksites21.
Based on the results of the current study on OSH situation in the Arab region, the
following recommendations were made:
1. Establishment of a National OSH profile: In order to take the necessary measures
required to improve OSH conditions, it is highly desirable that all countries prepare a
national OSH profile document according to the standardized format proposed by the
ILO.
2. Up-dating national OSH legislation to meet International standards and the
ratification of ILO OSH Instruments: Since legislation is the basic incentive behind
the shape of implementation, it is necessary to amend and update OSH-related laws
and regulations in a country to meet the International standards required to secure
workers’ safety and health. Acts or Decrees that seem obsolete and irrelevant should
undergo modifications and updates. ILO OSH conventions offer countries a tool to
upgrade their legislation by providing the basic principles and standards that should
be applied on specific OSH matters. The ratification of ILO OSH conventions also
facilitates reaching agreements with the social partners since all their provisions have
been debated in a tripartite context at International Labour Conferences, where
governments, employers’ representatives and workers’ organizations of respective
countries have voted on and adopted the conventions. Hence, it is recommended that
countries launch a study on the incompatibility between OSH conventions and
national OSH legislation, and find the means to ratify the conventions.
3. Implementation of Legislation through the reinforcement of inspection services:
Currently, the majority of countries are relatively lenient in dealing with a breach of
OSH laws. Stricter measures should be taken in order to properly enforce the existing
OSH laws by subjecting OSH infringements to charges depending on the degree of
violation. Hence, each country should define its priorities in terms of strengthening
labour inspection services. Inspectors should be given more privileges with adequate
facilities in order to be able to reach out to the various worksites and enforce OSH
regulations. Appropriate resources will have to be allocated to meet set objectives. It
is also important that workers in all economical sectors be covered by the OSH laws
and regulations with no exclusions.
4. Promotional activities on OSH:

Safety campaigns to raise awareness on OSH and promote safety culture: Raising
awareness on the positive influence of OSH services on the employers and
workers would make them more attractive and facilitate their implementation at
the workplace. Various programmes can be adopted, such as conferences, media
awareness campaigns, and reader-friendly booklets. The Television is an
21
International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent Work a
Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
41
important media tool for raising public awareness, yet, unfortunately, it is not
used effectively for useful OSH purposes.

OSH in educational curricula and training programmes: By integrating OSH in
school and university curricula, students will be more aware of the importance of
safeguarding the health and safety of workers and will be more encouraged to
specialize in this field. It is important to initiate a discipline on occupational
safety and health in the Arab universities, in addition to providing appropriate job
opportunities for OSH graduates. Besides, nation-wide OSH training for
employers and workers are essential to widen their scope of knowledge and
expertise, and thus, reduce occupational hazards.

Undertaking OSH research studies: OSH research, in its quest to provide
scientific and credible information relevant to the Arab context, is invaluable.
Countries should establish their own research centres in order to undertake
multidisciplinary collaboration among psychosocial experts, political scientists,
economists, as well as experts in various OSH specializations. This is needed to
achieve a feasible OSH program in each country. International collaboration,
which also assists in advancing the state of OSH, is also needed.
5. Tools to improve OSH:

OSH data collection system: National data collection on OSH indicators should
be undertaken more frequently. The data should be comprehensive increasing the
availability of accurate information and statistics on occupational accidents and
diseases. Establishing an OSH databank is invaluable for developing an accurate
list of reported occupational diseases and accidents, which will, in turn, assist
employers, insurance companies, labour inspectors, and OSH agencies to use the
data for planning and policy making.

Funding: OSH activities should be given sufficient funds where possible, to
achieve proper implementation.

Social Dialogue: Tripartite OSH committees should be formed and organized in
the countries to share in decision making.

OSH information dissemination: Countries should develop a formal system for
disseminating current OSH information.
The road to a considerably acceptable OSH situation in the region is for sure not an easy
task, but rather a critical one demanding assistance from the ILO, the local civil societies
and authorities, and the indispensable contribution of workers’ and employers
representatives in outlining an OSH plan for the region.
42
ANNEX 1
43
Table 1: Basic Demographic Data
Country
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
(West Bank)
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Age Structure b
%
0 – 14
years
15 – 64
years
65 years and
over
Population
growth rate
2007 b
%
32,854,000
727,000
74,003,000
28,807,000
5,703,000
24,573,000
2,687,000
3,577,000
5,853,000
31,478,000
2,567,000
27
26
32
39
33
38
26
26
33
31
42
67
69
63
57
63
59
70
66
62
63
54
4
3
4
3
4
2
2
7
4
5
2
1.216
1.392
1.721
2.618
2.412
2.06
3.561
1.198
2.262
1.528
3.234
Annual
Population
growth
rate%
2004-2015 c
1.5
1.6
1.9
3
3.6
2.8
4.1
1.4
2
1.69
1.8
2,535,927
42
54
3
2.895
3.6
92.4
3.6
813,000
36,233,000
19.043,000
10,102,000
4,496,000
20,975,000
23
41
36
24
20
46
72
56
60
69
78
51
4
2
3
6
1
2
2.386
2.082
2.244
0.989
3.997
3.461
4.2
2.2
2.6
1.2
6.4
3.1
89
60.9
73.6
74.3
-
777
35523
18582
9995
4284
20329
Total
Population
2007 22,a
a
The World Health Report 2007. World Health Organization. www.who.int/whr/2007/whr07_en.pdf
b
US. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbagg
Literacy
Total Population
%d
Total
Population
2004
(000) d
69.9
86
71.4
89.9
79.4
93.3
52.3
81.4
32.4
716
72642
28057
5561
23950
2606
3540
5740
31020
2534
c
The World Health Report 2006. World Health Organization. www.who.int/whr/2006/whr06_en.pdf
d
Human Development Report 2006, United Nations Development Program (UNDP). http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf
44
Table 2: Basic Economic Data
Country
6,603
20,758
305.9
4,688
13,825
19,384
5,837
4,309
15,584
3.9
7.8
2.9
3.2
6
2.5
1.4
3
3.2
2.4
4
Below
Poverty
Line
(<1$/day)
%b
3.1
<2
<2
-
1,026
-
-
0.568
26.3
83.6
77.9
13.4
23.3
19,844
1,949
3,610
7,768
24,056
879
2.7
4.1
2.9
6.4
3.7
<2
15.7
0.508
7.415
5.505
3.502
2.968
5.759
2.7
10.3
14.2
11.4
86.8
80.7
83
91.9
82.8
86.2
80.7
83
88.2
83.5
31.2
24.5
34.5
30.1
29.4
37.1
31.7
41.3
34.6
32.2
GDP per
Capita
US$ 2004
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
(West-Bank)
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
a
Annual
Growth
Rate %
1990-2003a
Labor Force Participation c
Labor
Force23c (in
millions)
Unemployment
Rate (%) d
9.31
0.352
21,8
7.4
1.512
7.125
1.136
1.5
1.787
11.25
0.92
12.3
4
8.9
10.5
28.7
8.3
7.9
-
15 - 64
Male %
1990
2003
79.5
80.1
83.4
82.3
76.3
76.3
85.9
78.8
75.9
79.7
85.6
79.6
77.6
80.9
88.7
87.3
83.3
82.3
15 - 64
Female %
1990
2003
20.1
35.1
32
38.9
15.1
20.9
15.7
25.2
17.8
30.3
38.9
42.9
26.5
33.8
66.5
65
40.5
44.6
a
Human Development Report 2006. United Nations Development Program (UNDP). http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf
The World Health Report 2007. World Health Organization. www.who.int/whr/2007/whr07_en.pdf
c
World Development Indicators 2006. World Bank. http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/cover.htm
b
d
Labour Force Surveys: www.ilo.org/dyn/lfsurvey/lfsurvey.home
45
Table 3: Distribution of Workers by Economic Activity a
Labor Force by Occupation
Country
Agriculture
Industry
Construction and Public
(%)
(%)
Works (%)
Algeria
17.2
13.2
15.1
0.7
45.1
57.1
Bahrain
29.9
9.9
7
Egypt
15
16
9
Iraq
2.2
12.5
7
Jordan
2.9
6.9
11.4
KSA
4.2
9.7
Kuwait
7.5
8.7
Lebanon
17
23
Libya
46.2
11.1
7.5
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
14.6
29
12.2
(West Bank)
1
Qatar
80
7
Sudan
26
14
33.5
Syria
16
10.2
Tunisia
7.8
11
18.9
UAE
42.1
Yemen1
Services
(%)
54.6
49.7
28.5
19
82.5
39.8
20.4
46.7
59
11.2
34.8
9.3
13
19
41.5
22.1
9.2
a
Figures were taken from various sites such as: Global Market Information Database
htp://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal/server.pt?control=SetCommunity&CommunityID=207&PageID=720&cached=false&space=CommunityPage, Labour
Force Surveys: www.ilo.org/dyn/lfsurvey/lfsurvey.home, Bahrain Labor Market Regulatory Authority: www.lmra.bh/upload/file/ebbok1/en/EEmployeeTables.xls#2.1.6, Egypt Ministry of Manpower and Migration: www.manpower.gov.eg/Brochures/work.pdf, Lebanon Central Administration for
Statistics: www.cas.gov.lb/pdf/eng.pdf, Yemen Central Statistical Organization: www.cso-yemen.org, and others.
46
Table 4: Basic Health Indicators
Life
Child
Expectancy
Country
Mortality
at Birth
Per
1000 b
(years)a
71.4
34
Algeria
74
19
Bahrain
68
36
Egypt
55
58
Iraq
71
19
Jordan
71
14
KSA
77
11
Kuwait
70
29
Lebanon
72
26
Libya
69
49
Morocco
74
22
Oman
Palestine
73
22
(West Bank)
76
21
Qatar
59
154
Sudan
73.6
35
Syria
73.5
28
Tunisia
78.3
16
UAE
61.1
79
Yemen
Adult Mortality per 1000 c
Health Expenditure 2003 a
Public
(% of GDP)
Private
(% of GDP)
Per Capita
(PPP US$)
3.3
2.8
2.5
0.8
1.3
3.3
186
813
235
4.2
3
2.7
3
2.6
1.7
2.7
5.2
1
0.8
7.2
1.5
3.4
0.5
440
578
567
730
327
218
419
97
2.8
1.3
813
291
132
99
93
226
2
1.9
2.5
2.5
2.5
2.2
0.7
2.4
2.6
2.9
0.8
3.3
685
54
116
409
623
89
Male
Female
155
119
210
258
199
181
100
192
210
174
187
147
208
144
116
68
136
157
113
135
154
341
170
169
143
278
a
Human Development Report 2006. United Nations Development Program (UNDP). http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf
b
US. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbagg
c
World Development Indicators 2006. World Bank. http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/cover.htm
47
Table 5: Distribution of Health Workers
a
0.20
0.62
0.10
0.53
3.14
0.08
0.40
0.13
0.10
0.25
0.03
0
0.31
0.95
0.25
0.24
0.53
0.37
0.03
0.72
0.25
0.38
0.04
0.90
0.10
0.52
0.29
0.07
0.17
0.01
0.08
0.33
0.01
0.13
Health
Managemen
t and
Support
Workers
0.31
0.46
0.14
0.44
1.29
0.22
0.29
1.21
0.14
0.10
0.19
Other
Health
Workers
0.03
0.54
Lab
Technicians
Community
Health
Workers
4.94
0.84
1.94
2.87
4.18
0.65
Public and
Environmen
tal Health
Workers
2.22
0.22
1.40
1.34
2.02
0.33
Pharmacists
2.21
4.27
2
1.25
3.24
2.97
3.91
1.18
3.60
0.78
3.50
Dentists
1.13
1.09
0.54
0.66
2.03
1.37
1.53
3.25
1.29
0.51
1.32
Midwives
Algeria 2002
Bahrain 2004
Egypt 2004
Iraq 2004
Jordan 2004
KSA 2004
Kuwait 2004
Lebanon 2001
Libya 1997
Morocco 2004
Oman 2004
Palestine
(West Bank)
Qatar 2001
Sudan 2004
Syria 2001
Tunisia 2004
UAE 2001
Yemen 2004
Nurses
Country
Physicians
Health workers density per 1000 a
0.08
0.18
0.28
0.65
0.27
0.47
1
0.16
1.73
0.05
0.79
1.16
1.57
1.95
1.94
0.07
1.33
3.15
0.04
0.03
0.06
0.04
0.06
0.36
0.15
1.32
0.43
0.15
1.47
1.33
0.08
0.17
0.09
0.25
1.03
0.40
1.05
1.64
0.23
0.22
0.53
0.09
0.04
0.29
The World Health Report 2006. World Health Organization. www.who.int/whr/2006/whr06_en.pdf
48
Table 6: Ratified ILO Conventions and Ratification plans for Core OSH conventions
Ratified ILO Conventions
ILO-OSH Conventions Ratified
Country
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
Palestine b
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Plans for Ratification c
Total number of inforce conventions
Number of in force
ILO OSH conventions a
C155
ratified
C161
ratified
C187 ratified
C155
C161
C187
54
8
63
61
23
15
18
49
28
48
4
5
1
6
9
3
3
3
8
1
6
0
√
-
-
-
6
14
49
52
9
28
1
1
8
6
1
1
-
-
-
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Possible
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
a
OSH conventions and protocols: C13, C45, C81, C115, C119, C120, C127, C129, C136, C139, C148, C155, C161, C162, C167,C170, C174, C176, C184, P81, P155
Inapplicable for Palestine which is an observing member of the ILO; and thus cannot vote or ratify conventions
c None of the countries have provided a timeframe for ratifying any of the Conventions
b
49
Table 7.a: Local Labour and Basic OSH Legislation in the 18 studied countries
Basic Labour codes, General Labour, and employment Acts
OSH Basic Laws
Country
Local Labour Legislation
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Act no 90-11relating to work relations
Amiri Decree Law No. 23/1976 to
promulgate the Labour Law for the
private sector
Law No 12 of 2003 enacting the Labour
Code
Labour Law No. 71/1987
Labour Code No.8
Labour Law (Royal Decree No M/51)
Law No 38 of 1964 concerning Labour
in the Private Sector (Labour Act)
Date Issued
April 1990
Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Labour Code (Law No. 91)
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
19 January 1991
2003
Decree-Act No 136 of 16 September 1983 on
Occupational accidents
Decree No 11802 of 30 January 2004 for the prevention,
security, and Hygiene of workers
16 September
1983
30 January 2004
April 2003
April 2000
2004
1997
1959
Law 94-29
21February
1994
Law 96-62
15July 1996
Labour Code
Federal Law No.8 on regulation of
Labour Relations
Labour Code (Act No.5 of 1995)
26 January 1988
1964
1970
September
2003
Oman
Date Issued
1987
1996
Labour Code (No 58-1970)
Dahir No 1-03-194 as a promulgation of
Law No 6599 (Labour Code)
Omani Labour Code (Sultanate Decree
35/2003)
Palestinian Labor Law No.7-2000
Qatar Labour Law
Labour Code 1997
Morocco
Act No. 88-07 on hygienity, security, and Medical
Insurance at the workplace
Executive Decree no 91-05 on the general prescriptions
of the necessary worksite protective standards on hygiene
and security
None
Law 12, Book V: OSH and Assurance of the adequacy of
the working environment
2003
September
1946
Lybia
11 January
1997
OSH Laws and Decrees
1976
Law of 23 September 1946 holding the
labour code
Lebanon
Modifications
1980
1995
50
Table7.b: OSH-Related laws and decrees.
Country
Algeria
Bahrain
OSH-Related Laws
Laws/Acts/Ministerial Decrees and Orders referring to OSH
Law No. 83-13: Relating to occupational accidents and occupational diseases
Decree No. 86-132: Protection of workers against Ionized radiation and usage procedures of
radioactive ionized radiating substances
Law No. 88-07: Hygiene, safety, and occupational medicine
Executive decree No. 91-05: General protective regulations on hygiene and safety in the
working environment.
Decree No. 93-120: The organization of work-related Medical care
Decree No. 96-209: Composition, organization, and functioning of a national council of
hygiene, safety and occupational medicine
Executive decree No. 01-285: The public places where tobacco is prohibited and the means
of applying this prohibition.
Executive decree No. 01-341: Composition, attributions, and the operation of the national
commission of homologation (ratifying/approving) of the standards of effectiveness of the
products, devices or apparatuses of protection.
Executive decree No. 02-427: Instructing, informing, and training workers in the field of
prevention from occupational hazards.
Executive decree No. 05-09: Relative to the Joint Committees with the workers on hygiene
and safety
Executive decree No. 05-10: Attribution, composition, organization, and procedure of the
enterprises’ hygiene and safety committees
Executive decree No. 05-11: Conditions of creation, organization and operation of the
hygiene and safety services
Decision 12-1977: Preventive measures to protect workers at constructions, civil engineering,
and ship building.
Decision 14-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from the dangers of
pulley equipment.
Decision 15-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from dangerous
machines.
Decision 21-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from fire hazards.
Order No 25-1977: Organization of services and precautionary measures necessary for the
protection of workers in workplaces
Decision No. 26-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers’ eyes from work
and machine hazards.
Decision 27-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from the machines
used in commercial works.
Decision 31-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from the flammable
gases and petroleum liquefied gases.
Decision 32-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from boiling and the
steam containers, and gaseous depots
Decision 33-1977: Preventive measures to protect workers from electricity hazards.
Decision 34-1977: Preventive measures and services to protect workers from working in
closed places as water storehouses
Order No 3-1978: Means of protection from occupational diseases and the necessary health
precautions for safeguarding workers
Decision 8-1978: The requirements and necessities of workers’ residences.
Decision 6-1999: Requirements and acceptable test results of workers
Decision 6-2000: The organization of occupational safety at the worksite.
Decision 21-2005: Protection of workers from the fire hazards at the worksites.
Decision 1-2006: Notification of occupational diseases and accidents.
Dates
Issued
July 1983
May 1986
January 1988
January 1991
May 1993
June 1996
September
2001
October 2001
December
2002
January 2005
January 2005
January 2005
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1977
1978
1978
1999
2000
2005
2006
51
Table7.b (cont’d): OSH-Related laws and decrees.
OSH-Related Laws
Country
Laws/Acts/Ministerial Decrees and Orders referring to OSH
Egypt
Iraq
Law No.79-1975: Social Security
Order No. 55- 1983: Contributions and requirements needed to provide the OSH means at
workplaces.
Order No 116-1991: OSH establishments and services
Law No. 4-1994: Protecting the environment
Ministerial Decree No. 134-2003: Organization of the OSH apparatus (OSH Committees) at
the enterprises
Decree No. 126-2003: Notification of accidents and diseases at workplace and the statistics on
occupational diseases and injuries
Decision 180-2003: Health care
Decision 200-2003: Providing proper transportation, nutrition, and housing for workers
Decree No. 211-2003: Safe working environment (OSH precautions and safety measures)
Decision No. 985-2003: Formation of a senior OSH advisory council chaired by the minister
of manpower, and other advisory councils at local districts chaired by the specialized officers.
Regulation 74-1968: Factory inspection
Law No. 39/1971: Workers’ retirement and social security law
Decision No. 552-1981: The establishment of the National Center for occupational safety and
health
Public Health Law No. 89-1981
Regulation No. 2-1984: Chemical Carcinogens
Regulation No. 6-1986: Ascral oil regulation
Regulation No. 14-1987: Harmful and heavy duty jobs
Regulation No. 19-1987: Child Labour
Regulation No. 22-1987: Occupational safety and health regulation
Regulation No. 29-1987: Standard disciplinary rules of workers at the workplace
Law No. 6-1988: National committee of occupational safety and health
Regulation 4-1989: Chemical Safety
Law No. 380-1989: Risk allowance law
Regulation No. 2-1990: Pesticides
Regulation No. 6-1993: Aromatic Benzene Regulation
Regulation No. 7-1993: Vibration Regulation
Law No. 3-1997: Environmental Protection
Law No. 11-1999: Employee’s health impairment law
Regulation No. 9-2000: Occupational diseases
Regulation 10-2000: Occupational accidents
Regulation No. 1-2002: Asbestos
Law No.8-2006: Restructuring of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
Dates
Issued
1975
1983
1991
1994
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
1968
1971
1981
1981
1984
1986
1987
1987
1987
1987
1988
1989
1989
1990
1993
1993
1997
1999
2000
2000
2002
2006
52
Table7.b (cont’d): OSH-Related laws and decrees.
OSH-Related Laws
Country
Laws/Acts/Ministerial Decrees and Orders referring to OSH
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Lebanon
Lybia
Act No.27-1999: Regulations of occupations
Law No.22-2000: Standards and Qualifications
Act No.19-2001 Social Security Code
Law No.29-2001 Nuclear and Radiating power
Law No. 44-2002: Agriculture
Law No.54-2002: Public Health and its amendments
Law No. 1-2003: The Protection of the environment
Code No.7-1998: Formation of OSH committees
Code No.42-1998: Medical and preventive care of workers
Code No.43-1998: Prevention and safety from machines
Law 27-1999: Organization of technical work
Law No. 22-2000: Qualifications and Standards
Social Security Law No.19/2001
Law No.29-2001: Nuclear power and radiation
Law No. 54-2002: Temporary Health law and its modifications
Section 8 of the Labour code: Protection from working dangers, the major industrial
accidents, and social and health services
Section 12 of the Labour code: Work at mines
Section 13: Labour inspection, including OSH inspection
Article 18 of the Social Security law: Coverage in cases of occupational dangers.
Ministerial Decree No.17-1973: Occupational diseases and the industries causing them
Law 56-1980 modified by Law 18-1987: Safety systems and conditions to protect established
enterprises
Ministerial Decree No. 77-1983: Percentage of disability pension wages in cases of
occupational injuries and diseases.
Law No. 21-1995 modified by Law 16-1996: Protection of the environment
Ministerial Decree No. 113-1995: Housing
Law No. 56-1996: The observation and industrial inspection at the enterprises
Ministerial Decree No. 114-1996 on the precautions and conditions that should be available
at the worksites
Ministerial Decree No.37-2001: Duties of inspectors at the ministry of Labour and social
affairs
Ministerial Decree No. 157-2005: Suspending of work at noon
Ministerial Decree No. 158-2006: Contents of the first aid kit at the worksite
Ministerial Decree No.215-2006: Committee coordinating between MOLSA and the general
council of the environment
Decree No 6341: regulation of health protection in all undertakings covered by the Labour
Code
Decree No 15659: Importing, manufacturing and sale of Agricultural fertilizers
Legislative Decree No 105: The use of ionizing radiation and protection against ionizing
radiation
Order No 1-174: Prohibition of chemicals (Asbestos)
Order No 1-92: Labeling agricultural products and the information required
Law No 444: Protection of the environment
Law No. 15 on the protection of the environment
Ministerial Order No. 8 on the workers’ health and safety
Ministerial Order No. 38 on the required prevention schemes for shipping workers
Law No. 93 on industrial security and labour safety
Law No. 13 on Social Security
Order of the General Public Committee No. 1309 on estimating damages
Order of the General Public Committee No. 115 on the list of occupational diseases
Dates
Issued
1999
2000
2001
2001
2002
2002
2003
1998
1998
1998
1999
2000
2001
2001
2002
1973
1980/ 1987
1983
1995/ 1996
1995
1996
1996
2001
2006
October 1951
September
1970
September
1983
November
1998
May 1998
July 2002
1971
1974
1974
1976
1980
1981
1983
53
Order on the primary and regular medical examination
Dahir regulating the import, purchase, transport, and usage of material composed of lead for
occupational usage
Dahir on occupational diseases and repairing occupational accidents
Dahir No. 1-60-223 on repairing occupational accidents
Law No. 005-71 on the protection from ionized radiation
Decree No. 2-94-666 on the authorization and control of nuclear plants
Morocco
Decree No. 2-97-132 on the utilization of ionized radiation in Medical and Dental settings
Decree No. 2-97-30 on the general protective measures and conditions for the utilization of
ionized radiation
Decree No. 2-04-465 on occupations restricted for children less than 18 years old, such as
acting without a written authorization
Decree No. 2-04-682 the occupations restricted for minors less than 18 years old, females,
and handicapped
Decree No. 2-04-512 relevant on the nomination of the members of the councils of
occupational medicine and prevention from occupational risks
Table7.b (cont’d): OSH-Related laws and decrees.
OSH-Related Laws
Country
Laws/Acts/Ministerial Decrees and Orders referring to OSH
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Sultanate decree No. 40-1979: Occupational diseases and accidents Compensation law
Ministerial Decree No 19-1982: OSH Regulations
Ministerial decree No. 19-1988: OSH Act
List of occupational diseases in the labour code 7-2000
Ministerial Decree No.14-2003: Women’s night work
Ministerial Decree No. 15-2003: Health standards and conditions at the worksite
Ministerial Decree No.17-2003: Medical aid procedure at the worksite
Ministerial Decree No. 21-2003: Safety standards at the enterprises
Ministerial Decree No. 22-2003: Primary medical testing guidelines
Ministerial Decree No. 24-2003: Regular medical testing
Ministerial Decree No. 1-2004: Hazardous jobs or working conditions that children shouldn’t
work with
Ministerial Decree No. 2-2004: Hazardous or tiring jobs excluded for women
Ministerial Decree No. 49-2004: Preventive measures from occupational accidents and
diseases
Ministerial Decree No. 167-2004: Child labor guidelines
Ministerial Regulation No. 1-2005: Preventive measures for workers at construction sites
Ministerial Decree No. 2-2005: Levels and standards of acceptable exposure to chemicals at
the worksite
Ministerial Decree No. 3-2005: Levels of maximal annual exposure to ionized radiation
Ministerial Decree No. 4-2005: Safe levels of noise at the worksite
Ministerial Decree No. 5-2005: Safety levels of lighting at the worksite
Ministerial Decree No. 6-2005: Safe temperatures at the worksites
Ministerial Decree No. 7-2005: Protection of workers working in gas or petroleum
Order No. 17-2005: Organizing the Medical care of workers at worksite
Order No. 19-2005: Regular Medical examination of workers exposed to the hazards of
occupational diseases
Order No. 20-2005: Prevention and cautions that should be at the worksites from the various
hazards.
Occupational health Act
The factories’ Act
Interdiction on night work for females
Refusing to allow mothers to work especially in dangerous substances
Law No. 92-1959: Social Security services and its modifications
May 1931
May 1943
February
1963
October 1971
December
1994
October 1997
October 1997
December
2004
December
2004
December
2004
Dates
Issued
1979
June 1982
1988
2000
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
1959
54
Ministerial Decisions No.268-1977 and 269-1977 of MOLSA
Ministerial decision No. 2907-2003
Basic Law No. 50- 2004 of workers in the country
Law No.56-2004: Organizing Agricultural relations
Ministerial Decision No.365-2007 of MOLSA
1977
2003
2004
2004
2007
55
Table7.b (cont’d): OSH-Related laws and decrees.
OSH-Related Laws
Country
Laws/Acts/Ministerial Decrees and Orders referring to OSH
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Replacing Law No.57-73 by Law No.94-28: Repair of the damage from occupational
accidents and diseases
Law No.90-77 (modified to Law No.96-9) for the creation of the Institute of occupational
Health and Security at the worksite
Ministerial Decree No.559: Occupational diseases and occupational medicine
Decree No. 1761 modified to Decree No.96-1001: Establishment of the National Council on
the prevention from occupational hazards
Ministerial Decree No.94-1490: Specific Medical inspection body at the worksite
Revision of the table of occupational diseases
Ministerial Decree No.95-538: Contributions of the compensation system against
occupational accidents and diseases at the worksite
Promulgation of Law No.95-56: Means of repair of damage caused by occupational diseases
and accidents in the public sector
Decree No. 96-1050: Financing occupational safety and health projects
Article 2 of the Labour Cose specific to the workers’ residence
Article 5 of the Labour Code specific to workers’ protection from working hazards
Ministerial Decree No 401/2007: Suspension of noon work in July and August
Act No. 19-1991: Social Service for occupational safety, welfare, and compensations
Act No. 25-1991: Insurance and wages of the public sector
Act No. 26-1991: Social Security for the private sector
Ministerial Decree No. 78-1995: general list of OSH
Ministerial Decree No. 138- 1995: The proclamation of the list of occupational diseases
Ministerial Decree No.229 -1995: The belonging of occupational health to MOLSA instead of
MOH
Ministerial Decree No. 39: Specification of jobs and industries that women should not engage
in
Ministerial Decree No. 40-1996: Jobs prohibited on children
Ministerial Decree of 1998: forming the senior committee of OSH
Republican order No.19 -1998: Organization and functioning of MOLSA
Ministerial Decree No. 71-1998: First Medical Aids and the contents of the First Aid Kit.
Ministerial Decree 257-2000: Occupational medical care system at the government’s
administration and the public, private, and mixed sectors
Dates
Issued
1957/ 1994
1990/ 1996
1990
1991/ 1996
1994
January 1995
April 1995
June 1995
June 1996
1980
2007
1991
1991
1991
1995
1995
1995
1996
1998
1998
1998
2000
56
Table 7.c Coverage of OSH in the legislation
Country
Algeria










Bahrain
Egypt

















Iraq
Jordan
KSA
OSH Aspects not covered in the
legislation
Covered OSH Aspects in the legislation



















Organization of OSH, training and information
Prevention of chemical and biological hazards
Prevention of physical, mechanical and electrical hazards
Occupational medicine and diseases
Responsibilities and obligations of employers and workers
and the role of occupational medicine
Use of tobacco
Dangerous substances, products and preparations
Electric Risks
Risks related to asbestos
Risks related to radioactive substances and apparatuses
emitting ionizing radiations.
Devices used at the buildings and construction sectors
The responsibilities of the employer
The responsibilities of the workers
Construction safety
First Aid services
Regular medical examination
Safety organization at the worksite
protection of the workers’ eyes
Conditions of working with flammable substances
Conditions of working with machines
Protection of workers from pulley machines
Protection of workers from working with steam machines
Protection of workers from electricity hazards
Protection of workers from fire hazards
Notification of occupational injuries
Providing a safe working environment at the level of the
establishment, organization, and reformation of enterprises.
Protection and care of the Labour force through safety
measures
Safety of the machines and equipment
Responsibility of employer:
Obligation of workers:
Role and power of labour inspection
Notification of accidents
Existence of a list of occupational disease:
Compensation system
OSH management, inspection, and culture
Chemical safety
Occupational health and hazards
Radiation protection
Protection of vulnerable groups (women, children, and
elderly)
Elimination of child labour
Duties of the employer
Rights and Responsibilities of the worker
Occupational accidents and diseases
OSH specialists
Conditions of the working environment
The Labour code and the related laws are considered
legislations, and usually, those are organized by ministerial
decrees

Certain diseases such as: stress,
psychological pressure in work environment,
HIV AIDS, and of carcinogenic pathologies
which are present at an unhealthy work
environment



Safety at underwater worksites (diving)
Safety at agricultural jobs
Safety from getting subjected to radiating
substances

None
 Health and safety at government institutions
and public sector
 OSH in the informal sector
 OSH in small industries, temporary workers,
and domestic workers


The limits of getting exposed at work
Some types of dangers and sectors
No answer
57
Table 7.c (cont’d): Coverage of OSH in the legislation
Country
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman 


OSH Aspects not covered in the
legislation
Covered OSH Aspects in the legislation




The Safety and working conditions at enterprises
The availability of Health and injury records
Reporting injuries
Regular medical check up, the medical tests required at the
regular check up in cases of working exposure,
 Identification of the working injury, means of identification
Compensation
 Means to provide the health care for workers at enterprises
 Conditions of the workers’ housing
 A special section on the Petroleum sector for its importance
 Decree11958 Safety regulation for construction sites
 Decree 11802 Safety and health (close to 155)
 Decree 14229 Table of occupational diseases
 Decree 700 Prohibition of hazardous child labour below 16
years
(Amendment of Article 22 and 23 of Labour law)
 The List of occupational diseases
 Primary and regular examination of workers
 Protection of worker from occupational hazards
 Industrial security
 Estimation of damages upon accidents
 Protection of shipping workers
 Protection of the safety and health of workers
 The hygiene and security of workers
 Occupational medicine
 Occupational medical services
 List of occupational diseases
 Hygiene and security committees
 The senior council of occupational medicine and professional
risks
 Female labour
 Child labour (minors less than 18 years oa age)
 Labour of handicapped workers
 Repairing occupational accidents and diseases
 Protection from occupational accidents
 Protection from fires
 Protection from the risks of utilizing Asbestos
 Protection from the risks of utilizing Benzene
 Protection from the risks of dangerous machinery
 Protection from chemical risks
 Protection from the risks of utilizing lead
 Protection from the risks of utilizing Manganese
 Protection from the risks of utilizing cement
 Protection from the utilization of compressors
 Protection from the utilization of radioactive bodies
 Protection from the utilization of X-rays
 Protection from the utilization of Carbon
 Protection from the utilization of methyl bromide
 Protection from the risks of utilizing Arsenic hydrogen
 Protection from the risks of utilizing Silica
 Protection from the usage of electric appliances
 Protection from the usage of pulleys
 Protection from ionized radiation
 Nuclear security
Child and women labour
Industrial security-Workers at the mines and quarries
Insurance of the employers and workers

None

Last Decree 11802 that was adopted in 2005
covers the majority of OSH questions
however it needs periodic revision and
amendment

Some chemical hazards in agriculture and
industry
Mechanical dangers
Social and psychological dangers at the
workplace


 OSH in the public sector


A list of the dangerous jobs, and means of
safety and protection
The factors of promotion in light of the
58


Palestine



Qatar



Sudan






Syria



Compensation for occupational injuries and accidents
(permanent disability, temporary detention, occupational
accidents and diseases compensation)
Private and public procedures specific to the safety and
protection of workers from the dangers of machines, gases, and
working conditions.
All occupational hazards at the working environment

Means of prevention
Obstacles and specific inscriptions in dealing with
occupational hazards
The cautions and preventions that should be there at the

worksite for the protection of workers and those who visit it
from working hazards.
The required precautions from machines
Prevention precautions when working with or storing material
and work machines.
Prevention precautions from electricity hazards
Prevention precautions from fire hazards
Prevention precautions natural disasters
Prevention precautions from chemical hazards
Protection of the workers (men, women, mothers) from the

occupational diseases
Protection of the industrial enterprises from the fire hazards,
explosions, and accidents at enterprises.
The duties and responsibilities of the employers in forcing

OSH legislation
The workers’ duties of applying the directions of OSH
The responsibility of the respective administrations to monitor
the application of OSH legislation.
technological changes
HIV testing
Publications and guiding directions of
protection from sunrays
Road accidents
There are no major OSH aspects that are
not there in the legislation.
59
Table 7.c (cont’d): Coverage of OSH in the legislation.
Country
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Covered OSH Aspects in the legislation
OSH Aspects not covered in the
legislation

Mandatory Health Insurance for all workers in the private

The maximum exposure to the physical
sector regardless of the nature of the sector and the size of the
and chemical contaminants of the
working force
worksite.
 Initiation of discussion groups within the institutions, and

Medical Insurance in the public sector
allowing workers to be represented in them
 The rights and duties of the workers and employers concerning
OSH
 The legal concept of occupational accidents and diseases: the
duty of reporting, the compensation procedures, and the
preventive measures as not to allow such accidents and
diseases at the workplace
 The specialty of Doctor of occupational health, and the
organization of this specialty at the worksite
 Preventive measures at the economical sectors:
constructions and general work/ working at closed sites/
protection from machines/ protection from electricity
 Protection of workers and their safety and health
Blank
 The duties and activities of OSH at the level of the
 working
administration and the economical institutions in the public,
private, and mixed sectors
60
Table 8: OSH Legislative and Implementation Authorities
Country
Legislative Authorities
Algeria
 MOL
Bahrain
 The senior OSH committee- MOL
Egypt
 MOMM
 The central administration for the protection and
care of manpower, and the security of the working
environment
 OSH administration
Iraq
Jordan




National centre for OSH
Legal department in MOLSA
National OSH committee.
A tripartite committee that coordinates with MOL,
and the parliament.
MOL
MOH
The Social Security institution
The civil defence
Ministry of municipalities and rural affairs
KSA





Kuwait
 MOLSA
Lebanon
 Mainly MOL
 The general public committee
 The general public committee for the labour force,
training, and working
Libya
Implementation Authorities






The Labour inspectorate- MOL
OSH Administration- MOL
OSH Administration- MOH
The Civil Defence
Civil service Bureau- Occupational Safety
The Council for the protection of marine life, the
environment, and the natural life
 MOMM -OSH administration and its related bureaus
 MOL
 MOJ
 MOINT
 Mainly MOL






MOL
MOH
The Social Security institution
The civil defence
Ministry of municipalities and rural affairs
Labour inspection Administration, and the related
occupational safety apparatus- MOLSA
 Occupational Health Administration-MOH
 The public council of the environment

 Mainly MOL and other relevant ministries
The general public committee for the labour force,
training, and working
 MOLOD
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Syria




MOLOD
MOH
MOE
Ministry of mines












The Labour care and working administration
The legislative bureau at the ministry
The Trade union and worker’s orders
MOLA
MOL
MOH
Workers’ and Employers’ representatives
Specialized authorities in the country
A specialized OSH governmental authority
MOLSA
MOH
The Social Security Institution
Tunisia
 Ministry of Social Affairs and solidarity and
Tunisians: the Labour administration.
UAE
 MOL
 Occupational institutions of workers & employers
 MOJ
Yemen
 The OSH administration -MOLSA
 Ministry of legal affairs
 The Tripartite committee
 Labour inspectors
 Medical inspectors
 Engineer inspectors
 Ministry of mines
 Labour inspectors in mines
 Ministry of Manpower





MOL
MOH
Civil Defence/ Public Health Committees at districts
Ministry of civil service, housing, and labour Affairs
Governmental authorities-OSH inspectors
 MOLSA
 The Social Security Institution
 Labour Inspectorate
 OSH medical inspectorates
 Doctor and Engineer inspectors at the National Social
Security fund for workers’ compensation
 MOL
 MOH- Public Council of health services
 MOI-civil defence, Municipalities
 Petroleum companies
 MOLSA- OSH Administration
61
Table 9: Covered and Uncovered Sectors by OSH Legislation
Country
Coverage of OSH Legislation
Economic Sectors Excluded
Algeria
 According to the law, all workers are covered
 Commercial and services sector
 Informal sector
Bahrain
 Around 70-80% of the economically active
population
 The military sector
Egypt
 All workers and economic sectors are covered
Iraq
 60% of economically active population
Jordan
 Around 50% of the economically active population
KSA
 All sectors covering the Labour code
 National Labour force in the local sector: 24 997
 Local and migrating Labour in 2006: 1 034 831
 It ranges between 20-80% of the economically
active population; differs among districts; less
Lebanon
coverage in remote areas
Kuwait
 Due to various social, economic, and organizing
factors, not all sectors are properly inspected
 Agriculture, domestic, temporary work and trade
sectors.
 The sectors excluded from the Labour code
 all sectors following Labour code are covered by
OSH legislation
 Only house maids
 Agriculture
 Family Business
 Public Administrations
 All economic sectors
 None
 Industrial, commercial, artisan, agricultural, and
related enterprises
 Enterprises and establishments with industrial,
commercial, or agricultural character relevant to
local collectivities, whether cooperatives, civil
 The public sector
Morocco
societies, syndicates, associations, and groups of all
natures.
 Employers of liberal professions in the services
sectors, and in general
 The military forces
 The public sector
 All workers and employers follow OSH legislation  Family Businesses
Oman
 Maids with special working conditions set by the
minister
 The Public sector
Palestine  All workers
 Housemaids
 All institutions following the Labour code
 None
Qatar
 The Industrial enterprises in the private sector, and
 Some public sector enterprises
Sudan
some public enterprises
 The unorganized/informal sector (around 40% of
 All the labour force follows the OSH legislation, in
the total labour force)
addition to those following the Labour code at the
 Family businesses
Syria
private sector, and those workers following the
 Housemaids; yet decision No.1461/2004 has
laws of agricultural relations No. 56/2004
allowed their registration in the records of
occupational accidents.
 The Public sector
Tunisia  2 600 000 economically active worker (2005)
 Government sector
 All workers in the private sector following the
 House-maids
UAE
Labour code
 Agriculture workers
 Agriculture
 90% of the Industrial sector are covered by OSH
 Small industries and artisans
Yemen
Legislation
(the new law includes them)
Libya
62
Table 10: Inspection Coverage in the Studied Arab Countries
Country
Algeria
% of Economically
Active Population
Inspected
 Very little;
inspection services
lack the required
training
 70 - 80%
Number / %
of Inspected
Enterprises a
Year
 In practice,
only 35% are
inspected
Number /% of
Enterprises
Eligible for
Inspection
 Legally, all
companies are
eligible,
 398 enterprise
(2006)
 Around 44 000  14 - 30 days
enterprises
Frequency of
Inspection
 No response
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Local enterprises
Governmental establishments
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
 Local enterprises
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
 No response
 Around 50%
 Around
100,000
institutions
 There is no
specific
time,
depending
on various
factors
 Local enterprises
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
 Everyone following
the Labour code at
the enterprises
 No statistics at
MOL, but at
the social
security
institution,
around 700
enterprises in
1427h
 No response
 Extra 2734
technicians
and 473 OSH
specialists are
needed to
cover all
institutions
 All enterprises
following the
Labour code
 Depending
on the
Labour
inspector
and the
Nature of
inspection.





 No available
data
 At least once  Local enterprises
a year
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait




 All economically
 All enterprises
active except for the
are covered
public governmental
sector, and the
Agricultural sector
 60% of the
 48 447
economically active
enterprises in
2006 (~57%)
 Total Labour force
in 2006: 1 034 831
 84 308
enterprises
Criteria for Selecting Inspected
Enterprises
Enterprises Inspected
 At least once  Local enterprises
a year
 Governmental establishments
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
 Other: all other worksites
 No specific  Governmental establishments
schedule ,
 Private institutions
usually 1-2
visits /year
Local enterprises
Governmental establishments
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
Other: all enterprises
following the Labour code
 No criteria, generally upon
complaint from workers






Commercial activities
Dangers at the enterprise
Number of workers
Average occupational accidents
Complaints of the workers
All economical worksites, whether
trading, industrial, or service sectors
 Priority is given to
 Hazardous enterprises
 Upon occupation
accidents/complaints
 Number of workers in the enterprise
 Impression after the first visit
 The dangers at the worksite
 Frequency of accidents and injuries
(repetition of same accidents)
 All enterprises proven to need
inspection upon detecting their
trading activity, working permits,
and their applied activities.
 All institutions are inspected
through a plan put by the chair of
every inspection unit depending on
the district.
63
Table 10 (cont’d): Inspection Coverage in the Studied Arab Countries
Country
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
% of Economically
Active Population
Inspected
Number / %
of Inspected
Enterprises a
Year
Number /% of
Enterprises
Eligible for
Inspection
Qatar
Criteria for Selecting Inspected
Enterprises
 No exact
figures ~25 40 %
 No available
exact figures;
more
inspectors are
needed
 On daily
basis
 Local enterprises
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
 No criteria; when a complaint is sent
to MOL from employee or trade
unions or other ministries
 No response
 No available
data
 No response
 No available
data
 No response
 3 months
 No response
 Local enterprises
 Private institutions
 No response
 All construction sectors are under
the control of Labour inspection
 No response
 No response
 No response
 Local enterprises
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
 No response
 Mainly industrial
enterprises, second
are social services,
and to a lesser
extent, trade and
service enterprises
 All institutions
following the
Labour code
 90% of
economically active
workers
 Around 10,840  All enterprises
enterprises in
excluding
2006
family
businesses
 Depends on
the type of
infringemen
t
 Once a year,
and
whenever
needed
 Local enterprises
 Trans-national companies
 Private institutions
 All sectors following the labour law,
 Regular and
random







 According to the procedures of the
Labour code No.14/2004
 It’s hard to estimate,
there are no
statistics, but from
the records of
occupational
accidents, around
2 750 000 ~ 70%
Sudan
Syria
Enterprises Inspected
20-80 % varying with:
 Big enterprises /
SME
 Remote areas/
Greater Beirut
 Formal/ informal
 No response
 No available data
Oman
Palestine
Frequency of
Inspection
 No response
 No response
 All Private
sectors and
some of the
public sector
(90%)
 Around 500
 It depends
000
on the OSH
institutions are
situation
inspected
 3500 (15%)
 2300
(according to
the statistical
issue of social
security in
2006)
 There are
regular
random
visits, and
specific
inspections
Local enterprises
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
Local enterprises
Governmental establishments
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
 Trans-national companies
 Institutions of the mixed
sector
 Enterprises are labelled as follows:
 1-1st degree enterprises for
production: regular inspection
 2-2nd degree enterprises: regular
inspection every other time
 3-3rd degree enterprises: regular
inspection every month
 The dangers/hazards of industry
 The size of the institution
 The number of occupational
accidents/diseases at the institution
 Direct complaints or reporting OSH
infringements
64
Table 10 (cont’d): Inspection Coverage in the Studied Arab Countries
Country
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
% of Economically
Active Population
Inspected
 2000000
economically active
worker (excluding
600 000 in the
public sector)
 All workers
following the
Labour code.
 The public, mixed,
and private sectors
 Industrial Sector
 Petroleum Sector
Number / %
Number /% of
of Inspected
Enterprises
Enterprises a
Eligible for
Year
Inspection
 21 339 in 1999  All
 21 518 in 2000
economical
 22 341 in 2001
institutions
(from National
regardless of
Profile p.25)
its size or
sector;
 All enterprises  No response
holding
permits from
the MOL.
 3165
 31,016
institution
institutions
 12,000
(large,
(26.5%)
medium, and
inspected
small)
Frequency of
Inspection
Enterprises Inspected
 No response




Local enterprises
Governmental establishments
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
 Inspection is
regular
according to
every sector
 Twice a year








Local enterprises
Governmental establishments
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
Local enterprises
Governmental establishments
Trans-national companies
Private institutions
Criteria for Selecting Inspected
Enterprises
 Sectors/institutions reporting most
occupational accidents and diseases
 According to special programmes
organized by the inspection
committee, for sectors requiring
attention
 Enterprises exposed to serious
dangers are prioritized in inspection
and follow up
 Institutions of organized sector
 The investment institutions
65
Table 11: Inspection Services at the Various Countries
Country
Inspection Services
 There is only one administration of the Labour inspection heading a general direction,
and various regional directions across the national territory.
 Random inspection programmes
Bahrain  Workers’ complaints
 Specific inspection campaigns
 Regular inspection over a certain period of time
 Inspection for occupational accidents and diseases
 Inspection upon the complaints
Egypt
 Inspection campaigns
 Inspection outside the working schedule
 Labour inspection
Iraq
 Safety and health inspection
 Physical testing via inspection
 Following up appointment by OSH specialists
Jordan
 Following up appointment by health specialists at enterprises
 According to the OSH inspection report attached; which includes general questionnaires
KSA
filled during the inspector’s fieldwork, and that include all comments
 Regular inspection (inspecting the districts and quarters)
 Inspection upon employers’ procedures at the ministry.
Kuwait  Inspection upon a major accident or occupational disease.
 Specialized inspection for specific activities
 Inspection upon receiving complaint
 Ministry Of Labour - Administrative and specialized (Physician and engineers)
Lebanon
 Other ministries such as Ministry Of the Environment, Ministry Of Health, and others
 No response
Lybia
 At the central level:
 Occupational inspection for the industrial, services, and commercial sectors
 Occupational inspection in the Agricultural sector
 Occupational medicine control for occupational security and hygiene
Morocco
 At the regional level:
 Regional and provincial delegations all over the country
 Occupational medical inspections
 No response
Oman
 General inspections
Palestine  Follow up visits
 Cases of Emergency
 All related OSH aspects
 Architectural (engineering) hazards, natural hazards, chemical hazards etc…
Qatar
 According to what’s there in Law No.14/2004 and the ministerial orders.
 General inspection
 Specific inspection
Sudan
 Regular inspection
 General inspection of the working environment
 Specific inspection of the hazards at the working environment
Syria
 Occupational diseases and accidents inspections
 Regular Surprising inspection
 Inspection during sectors’ campaigns
Tunisia
 Inspection upon the request of Orders
 Inspection upon the request of the Supervision committee
 Making sure the working environment is suitable for the workers
UAE
 Workers’ Health
Algeria
66
Yemen
 The availability of the necessary equipment to protect the workers from the working
hazards, such as the personal safety measures, fire-fighting devices, and proper housing
 Observing the proper implementation of OSH legislation
 Controlling occupational accidents and deaths
 Forming OSH committees
 Measuring the amount of physical contaminants in the working environment
67
Table 12: Information on Inspectors in the 18 Studied Arab Countries
Country
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Number
 Operational inspectors: 566
 Technical and
administrative Inspectors:
 Competence is a social right
(14 inspectors for the areas,
28 assistant inspectors, and
74 head clerks.
 Bachelors degree of applied
 10 inspectors
sciences
 967 inspectors (doctors,
 An OSH inspector should
engineers, and chemists)
hold a Bachelor’s degree in
work at the governmental
sciences, Engineering,
inspection apparatus.
Doctor of medicine
 125 inspectors
 90% university graduates
 The total number of
inspectors is 100, of which
are 11 OSH inspectors
 Oath inspectors: 135, most
of which are Labour
inspectors and some are
OSH.
 In addition to 10 OSH
inspectors at the public
institution for social
security
 At MOL: 67 safety
engineers, 264 associate
safety engineer, 24
occupational safety
technicians:
 At MOH, there are 10
health inspectors
 7 specialized
Lebanon  90 Administrative
Lybia
 No response
Morocco  400
Oman
Education
 4 inspectors (there’s a plan
to increase the number)
Palestine  80 inspectors at the MOL
Qatar
 50 inspectors
Sudan
 Around 75 inspectors
 A minimum of engineering
or medicine degree for OSH
inpectors
Training
 No response








OSH degree
Practically: inspecting
Basic OSH training
Advanced OSH training
Categorical OSH training
Specialized OSH training
Short term courses
Inspectors attend a 6-month
field training
 An inclusive program is being
prepared for Labour inspectors
 The OSH inspector should
have a university degree in
ME, EE, or BS.
 For the OSH doctor, MD
surgery, preferably with a
diploma in occupational
health or industrial medicine
 Training tournaments prepared
by the ministry before
specialists perform the oath.
 In addition, regular trainings
are organized for OSH and
other Labour inspectors with
the collaboration of the ALO
 Safety engineers: BE for
 Associate engineer and
technical specialists:
Engineering technical
diploma
 Theoretical and practical
training prepared by the
specialized ministries
 University degree
 Seminars /Lectures /Workshop
 3 /5 physician inspectors have
OSH specialty
 No response
 No response
 Law Degree/ MD/ BE/ PhD
Sciences
 Field training
 Range from high school
degree to Masters
 BE safety engineer
 High school diploma/
University
 Training on inspections, the
way they are processed, and
writing reports
 English courses specific to
industrial security
 Training on the working
conditions
 Training on labour legislation
 Legal training/ OSH technical
training
 Holders of University
degrees or Higher Technical
education
 Internal training upon the
beginning of working/
Training abroad
 A university degree or
industrial security
68
Table 12 (cont’d): Information on Inspectors in the 18 Studied Arab Countries
Country
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Number
 70 inspectors of OSH
general administration at
the social security.
 90 inspectors of the labour
administration at MOLSA
 335 Labour Inspectors
 35 Medical Inspectors
 28 Inspecting engineers at
the National Social
Security fund for Disease
insurance
 100 OSH Inspectors;
(chemists, engineers,
technicians, in addition to
those inspecting the legal
framework)
 42 Inspectors at the central
administration and its
different branches
Education
Training
 Labour inspector: Bachelor
Degree
 Medical Labour inspector:
Physician + 2 years of
specialization in
occupational health
 Inspectors are at first entitled
to training for one year and
one month, and then he gets
strengthening trainings that
aim at strengthening the
potentials of the Labour
inspectors.
 OSH-related legislation
 Inspection techniques
 Evaluating the occupational
exposure to physical and
chemical contaminants of the
working environment
 OSH inspectors should have
BE, BS (chemistry/physics),
or technical degrees
 Continuous OSH training at
the institutes and universities
locally and abroad
 Intermediary technical
institute/ University degree
 Must have an education
suitable with his profession
 Must be knowledgeable
 OSH Training sessions
about the National legislation
concerning OSH
69
Table 13: OSH Education and Training in the 18 Studied Arab Countries
Country
Algeria
Universities/ Academic Institutions
 Medical Schools
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
 Curricula of Engineering schools include OSH
 There’s a current effort to include OSH in the
Secondary school curricula
 Curricula of community health at paramedical
departments.
 Department of community medicine-faculty of
Medicine- University of Baghdad
 University of Technology-Post graduate OSH
studies for engineers.
 The Institute of Technology- Diploma in OSH
 The Jordanian University/ faculties of
Engineering and medicine
 The University of Sciences and Technology/
faculty of technical sciences
 Balkaa practical University/ plan to establish a
Safety Diploma
 No accurate information, but King Fahd, King
Faisal and other Universities include OSH
electives in their curricula
 Offered courses at:
 The University of Kuwait/ Faculty of Medicine,
community medicine, Faculty of engineering and
Petroleum
 Faculties of Health Sciences at AUB, LAU and
Balamand university
Lebanon  Post graduate program at USG offering OSH
diploma
 All senior centres for inclusive professions
 All other senior centres for specialized
Lybia
professions
 Intermediate training centres
 Faculties of Science Education, Mohammed V
university
Morocco Faculty of Medicine and pharmacy, Rabat and
Casablanca
 The senior technical institute/- institute of fireOman
fighting and safety
 Al Najah University
 Jerusalem University
Palestine  Beer Zeit University
 Faculties of Engineering in most Universities
Qatar
 The institute of Administrative development
 The University of North Atlantic
Technical Institutions
 Faculty of Science at Batna offers training
for safety engineers
 The national institute of hydrocarbons
provides training for safety & hygiene
specialists.
 Bahrain training institute: NEBOSH/
ROSPA/ IOSH
 RRC middle east institute: NEBOSH/
IOSH
 OSH institute- Labour cultural institution –
Labour Union
 Some civil institutions
 Senior universities and institutes.
 Institute of technology/safety
 Institute of paramedical sciences/public
health
 The OSH Administration/ various
Foundational and specialized tournaments
in safety ranging from a few days to a
period of 9 months
 No accurate information; mainly training
workshops, and lectures
 University of Kuwait (Engineering and
Petroleum studies)
 Public council for practical education and
training
 Faculties of technological studies
 Industrial institutes/ Training institutes
 The higher centre for occupational safety and
health
 Training seminars for OSH inspectors in
multilateral frameworks
 The senior technical institute
 The National training institute
 None
 The training centre of the Ministry of civil
service, housing, and Labour
administration
70
Table 13 (cont’d): OSH Education and Training in the 18 Studied Arab Countries
Country
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Universities/ Academic Institutions
 Jamiaat al thaqafa
 Medical schools/-Technical faculties at
Universities (engineering, pharmacy, and
economics.)
 Technical schools at the ministry of education
 Technical and Health institutes at the ministries of
High education, industry, communication, Health
and Agriculture.
 Schools of medicine offer a major in occupational
health doctor
 Medical Schools/-Senior schools of Engineers
 Senior institutions for technological studies
(senior technicians)
 Senior school for Health Sciences and
technologies (senior OSH technicians)/-The
National Institute for Labour and Social studies
(Labour inspectors-Bachelor holders in OSH)
 Emirates University/-Zayed University-Sharjah
University
 Training institutes for Petroleum, and private
training institutes
 No OSH degree on its own, but OSH concepts are
taught at the Med and Eng schools, and Safety
and Health at the Health Institutes.
Technical Institutions
 No response
 The central Institute for orders: a 6 months
training for OSH specialists
 Arab OSH centre (ALO) offers various
OSH training
 Technical schools for various specialties:
(electricity, constructions, health
preparation, electronics, mechanics)
 Senior Technical Faculty
 Civil Defence Institute
 Institutes following Petroleum enterprises
 Technical Training institutes of the
ministry of technical education and
technical training
71
Table 14: Main National OSH Programs
Country
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Programs
 Construction safety
 Mining
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Elimination of silicosis
 Construction safety
 Construction safety
 Mining
 Safety
 Agriculture safety
 OSH in informal economy
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Elimination of silicosis
 Others; Specify: Health services, Petrol, chemicals
 Construction safety
 Safety
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Construction safety
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Other: safety at work, protection from fire hazards, first aid training
 No response
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Safety
 Agriculture safety
 OSH in informal economy
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Hygiene and security committees in enterprises of less than 50 employees
 Creation of medical services in enterprises of less than 50 employees
 Creation of independent medical committees in enterprises where there’s
exposure to the risk of occupational diseases
 Creation of inter-enterprise occupational medical services
 No response
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Construction safety
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Elimination of Silicosis
 Construction safety
 Safety
 Agriculture safety
 OSH in informal economy
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Elimination of silicosis
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Construction safety
 Agriculture safety
 OSH in informal economy
 Other: Export institutions, and the institutions recording the highest frequency
of occupational accidents
 Construction safety
 Agriculture safety
 OSH in informal economy
72
Yemen
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Elimination of hazardous child labour
 Other: Safety in the Industrial sector
73
Table 15: Percentage of Occupational Accidents and Diseases Reported to Authorities
Country
% of Occupational Diseases Reported
Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
 The number of the annually declared occupational diseases
is far from reflecting the real situation of these pathologies.
 No response
 No response
 No response
 Very negligible, and very hard to determine the exact
percentage
 No response
 Unavailable
 No response
 No response
 No response
 All occupational diseases that are proven to be caused by the
working conditions are reported and recorded according to
the Act of Social security of the Sultanate decree 72/91 and
its modifications
 Very few
 No response
 Around 5%
 90%
 100%
UAE
 No response
Algeria a
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Morocco
Oman
% of Occupational Accidents Reported
 In principle, all occupational accidents

















Yemen
 2 cases in 2006

Around 4%
No response
Less than 5%
There are no accurate statistics, but could be estimated of
around 40% of the total number of accidents
No recent statistics
All accidents eligible for recording are recorded
<10%
No response
No response
Occupational accidents that are proven to be caused by the
working conditions are reported and recorded according to
the Act of Social security of the Sultanate decree 72/91 and
its modifications
Very few
All accidents
Around 90% of the accidents and injuries
90%
100%
No accurate statistics, but various studies will provide a
consistent system of statistics
Employers report to the specific authorities individual cases
right when they happen.
The inspectors also detect the rest of the cases from the
records that which employers didn’t report.
74
Table 16: Coverage of Worker's Compensation System
Country
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
KSA
Kuwait
Occupational accidents covered
by Workers’ compensation
systems
 All the workers of the formal sector
 100% (all economically active)
 All workers who are insured at the
insurance services
 40% of the economically active
 No accurate numbers, around 70% of
the economically active
 All workers following the Labour
code
 No response
Lebanon  Around 70% of workplace injuries
 All the economically active
Lybia
Morocco  One third of the urban dwellers
 All those insured receive wage
compensation
Palestine  No complete information
 All cases
Qatar
Oman
Sudan
 Around 90%
Syria
 The law indicates that 100% of the
workers are entitled for
compensation since all workers are
subjected to work hazards, however,
in reality, only 15% are covered
 86% (2005)
Tunisia
UAE
 According to the law, all workers are
endowed to be compensated for
occupational accidents
Yemen
 Total number of workers in the
private sector: 150000
 In 2005; total number of injuries:
1860
Occupational diseases covered by
Workers’ compensation systems
 All workers of the formal sector
 100% (all economically active)
 No response
 40% of the economically active
 No response
 All workers following the Labour
code
 Blank
 Occupational diseases are not
compensated
 All the economically active
 One third of the urban dwellers
 Workers in the private sector who are
included in the Social Security
 No complete information
 All cases
 Around 90% of those having
occupational diseases
 The law indicates that 100% of the
workers are entitled for
compensation since all workers are
subjected to work hazards, however,
in reality, only 15% are covered
 86% (2005)
 A worker is compensated according
to the degree of disability that took
place according to the Labour code,
and the list that specifies the type of
injury and disability, and the % of
the disability
 No Response
75
Table 17: Problems and Deficiencies of Occupational Health Services
Country
Occupational Health Services
Problems during the last 5 years
Current Deficiencies in
Occupational Health Services
 Deficiencies in dialogue,
information, and communication
 No Response
 Deficiencies in the financial
potentials
 Variable efficiency: - public/private
sectors
 Weak cooperation/ministry of
health and safety authority.
 Not well developed in small
industries.
Algeria
 None
Bahrain
 No Response
Egypt
 Regular inspection on all workers
Iraq
 Shortage in occupational physicians
and nurses.
 Problems in prevention and health
care.
Jordan
 Deficiency in the Specialists
 Mixing up between public Health and
Occupational Health
 Lack of cooperation with certain
employers
 Lack of a united effort in this field
 Deficiencies in Health specialists
KSA
 No problems
 Unavailability of institutions on
occupational health and other
services
 Lack of awareness and conscious on
the importance of OSH services, and
its positive influence on the employers
and workers
 Difficulty of enforcement in small
enterprises
Kuwait
 High percentages of changing the
workers
 Difference in culture, language, and
concept of security for the workers of
various nationalities
Lebanon  No Response
Libya
 No real statistics on occupational
accidents, diseases, and
mortalities
 No problems, except that small
enterprises are not covered with
Morocco
occupational health services
Oman
 Lack of OSH experiences
 Insufficient inspection visits to the
enterprises
Palestine  Some employers fail to report
occupational accidents and diseases
 In 2004, some institutions did not
follow OSH regulations; yet,
Qatar
infringements are recorded by the
action of law.
 Deficiency in the number of
occupational health specialists and
doctors
 No available nurses to provide
occupational health care
 Lack of Industrial hygienists, and
other OSH specialists
 Deficiency in the factories and
apparatuses of inspecting the
working environment
 No Response
 Deficiency in OSH medical
specialties
 Lack of a registry of
occupational accidents and
diseases
 Occupational health services are not
enough
 Lack of experiences for OSH
inspectors
 Deficiency in inspection services
 Deficiency in workers’
compensation services
 No Response
76
Sudan
 Some accidents occurring due to the
misbehavior of the workers
 Deficiency in the Labour force in
this field
 Lack of means of transportation
77
Table 17 (cont’d): Problems and Deficiencies of Occupational Health Services
Occupational Health Services
Problems during the last 5 years
Country
 Lack of technical specialties,
cooperation of some employers,
and financial potentials
 Medical labour coverage of the
No Response
public sector
 Lack of cooperation between the
Inefficient reporting of accidents by the
private sector and the ministry in
employers
reporting accidents
 Deficiency in the specialized
Deficiency in the specialized Medical
Medical OSH crew and related
OSH crew and related Health groups.
Health groups.
Deficiency in the Devices and
 Deficiency in the Devices and
apparatus
apparatus
Deficiency of training for the existing  Deficiency of training for the
team
existing team
Lack/Deficiency of means of
 Lack/Deficiency of means of
transportation
transportation
 Deficiency in budget allocated
Syria
 No Response
Tunisia

UAE



Yemen


Current Deficiencies in
Occupational Health Services
78
Table 18: OSH Advisory Bodies and their Corresponding Activities
National OSH advisory bodies and The corresponding activities of
Country
safety councils
the advisory bodies
Algeria
 The national tripartite Council of
occupational hygiene and medicine
(employers, workers, government)
 The senior OSH committee-MOL,
whose members are from:
Governmental authorities, Labour
Union, and workers’ orders
Bahrain
 The senior OSH advisory council
 OSH advisory committees at local
districts
Egypt
 The advisory National bureaus
 Senior universities and institutes
 No response
Iraq
 The Labour and OSH Inspection
Jordan
Administration-MOL
 No Response
KSA
Kuwait  No Response
 There is no such body in the country
despite a lot of demands from the
Lebanon
inspectors and International
organizations
 The higher institute for OSH
Libya
 The senior safety committee
 The council of occupational medicine
and prevention from occupational
hazards
Morocco
 OSH committees (in the process of
formation)

No
Response
Oman
 No response
Sudan
Syria
 No Response
 No Response
 No Response
 No Response
 No Response
 No Response
 The council of occupational
medicine and prevention from
occupational hazards has met for
the first time on June 28,2007
 The National committee on health








 No Response
Palestine
Qatar
 The council meets twice a year in
regular sessions, and annually
works out a report on occupational
hygiene, safety and medicine in the
country.
 Propose public policies on OSH
 Sets, reviews, and developsthe
National OSH Legislation and
standards
 Encourages OSH studies and
researches
 Encourages employers and workers
cooperation to guarantee successful
OSH programmes and plans.
 Offers plans and proposals to
prepare specialists
 Prepares conferences and lectures
 Monitor OSH security standards at
the working environment
 Propose solutions for problems at
work
Governmental authorities
Labour Union
Employers’ Union
None
No Response
The guide on the public safety
OSH Committees in districts
The role of the National committee
on Health
 Applying some awareness and
cultural programmes on OSH
79
Country
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
National OSH advisory bodies and
safety councils
The corresponding activities of
the advisory bodies
 The National tripartite Council for the
prevention of occupational hazards
(with the representation of scientific
organizations and NGOs:
 The Tunisian organization for safety
engineers and technicians
 The Tunisian organization for
occupational Medicine
 Private institutions
 The awareness committee at the
ministry of social affairs
 No Response
 The senior OSH committee including:
 MOLSA
 Membership of:
 Director of Labour relations
 Directors of the ministries of: Health,
Constructions, Industry and Social
insurance
 Production parties, the workers, and the
employers
 The general committee of the
environment
 The general department of the OSH
 Provide feedback concerning the
OSH legislation, description, and
organization
 Provide feedback concerning the
National programme for prevention
from the occupational hazards
 Monitor occupational accidents and
diseases
 Not yet specified
 Review OSH legislation and
propose modifications
 Propose suitable measures to
control occupational accidents and
diseases
 Propose suitable financial,
technical, and human resource
measures to promote the services
and OSH status
 Take critical decisions to partially
or totally evacuate or suspend the
work at the workplace subjected to
serious hazards.
80
Table 19: Asbestos, Chemicals, and GHS usage measures in the 18 studied countries
Asbestos
Chemical Safety
Country
Restricted in the
Level of
National System
System inline with
Country
Interdiction
exists
C 170
Yes
Full
Yes
Yes
Algeria
GHS for classification and labelling
Applied in the
Existence of a
country
GHS Program
No
No
Bahrain
Yes
Full
No
No Response
No
No
Egypt
Yes
Full
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Iraq
Yes
Partial (Blue)
Yes
Yes
No
No Response
Jordan
Yes
Full
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
KSA
Yes
No Response
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Kuwait
Yes
Full
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Lebanon
Yes
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
Libya
No
No Response
No
No Response
No Response
No Response
Morocco
No
No Response
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
No Response
Palestine
Yes
Full
No
No Response
No Response
No Response
Qatar
Yes
Full
Yes
No Response
Yes
No
Sudan
Yes
Full
Yes
Yes
No
No Response
Syria
No
No Response
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Tunisia
Yes
Partial (blue)
No
No Response
Yes
Yes
UAE
Yes
Full
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes (under study)
Yemen
No
Blank
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Oman
81
Table 20: OSH Indicators on which data are collected
Country
Indicators Used
Frequency of Data
Collection on Indicators
Statistics Provided a

46 629 occupational
accidentsab
 1,000 occupational diseases
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Lifetime working ability
 No data
Bahrain
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 January of every year
 No response
Egypt
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 No response
 57 163 injuriesbc
 3 549 diseases c
Iraq
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Annually
46 accidents
33 diseases
Jordan
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Other: costs of the injuries
 Yearly
 Accidents: 13 842cd
 Diseases:18 d
 Cost:1 794 035 Jordanian
Dinar/2004 d
KSA
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Yearly
 The occupational accidents
and injuries of the year
1426 h (102259)
 The percentage of disability
pension: 81% of the total
number of those receiving
social security
Kuwait
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Yearly
Lebanon
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Lifetime working ability
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Sporadically
 No figures
Libya
 Absenteeism
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Average retirement age
 No answer
 No figures
Morocco
 No response
 No response
 No response
Algeria
b
 2818 injuries in 2006
a
The obtained figures are provided as according to the latest statistics in the countries
Information from Algeria National Profile
c
Results from Egypt National profile
d
Results from Jordan National profile
b
82
Table 20 (cont’d): OSH Indicators on which data are collected
Frequency of Data Collection
on Indicators
Statistics Provided a
Oman
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 At the end of every year since
the end of 2004
 Figures on Omani workers
in the private sector at the
mid-2006:
 Mortality because of
occupational injuries:
0.113/100 workers
 %road accidents of the total
occupational deaths:24.7%
 Average Absenteeism days
because of occupational
injuries:46.8 days/injury
 Percentage of labour force
under disability pension
schemes/death pension:
6.8% of total occupational
injuries and deaths
Palestine
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 During inspection visits and
statistical data collection
 Accidents: 675de
 Diseases: 2 e
Qatar
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Every 6 months
 No response
Sudan
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Average retirement age
 Usually around every year
 No response
 Yearly
 Occupational accidents:
6100
 Occupational diseases: 2165
 Recovery after medical care
without absenteeism:1104
 Recovery after
Absenteeism: 950
 % labour force under
disability pension schemes:
1822
 mortality:159
Country
Syria
e
Indicators Used
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Average retirement age
Results from Palestine National profile
83
Table 20 (cont’d): OSH Indicators on which data are collected
Country
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
Indicators Used
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Lifetime working ability
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Average retirement age
 Others
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Lifetime working ability
 Percentage of labour force under
disability pension schemes
 Average retirement age
 Figures and rates of occupational
accidents and diseases
 Absenteeism
 Lifetime working ability
Frequency of Data Collection
on Indicators
Statistics Provided a
 Yearly
 Occupational accidents: 43
154
 Occupational diseases: 620
 Absenteeism: 120 000
 % labour force under
disability pension schemes:
86%
 Available
 Available
 Quarter year, half year, yearly
 Occupational accidents and
diseases: 1371
 Occupational mortality: 5
 Preliminary Medical
examination: 15 334
 Number of regular Medical
examination: 3618
 Absenteeism: 6855
84
Table 21: Statistics on Work-Related Accidents, Diseases and Mortality
Country
Work-Related Accidents
Work-Related
Diseases
Work-Related Mortality
In 2003: 49 629 a
In 2006: 2247 occupational
accident
In 2003: 1000 a
No response
In 2003: 723 a
in 2006:19 deaths (due to
occupational accidents)
In 2002: 57 163 injuriesb
In 2001: 3 549 casesb
Around 1 500 mortality case
a year
Iraq
Jordan
In 2006: 46
In 2004: 13 842 c
In 2006: 33
In 2004: 18 c
In 2006: 20
In 2004: 52 c
KSA
102 259 occupational accidents
in 1426 h
No response
493 mortalities
In 2006: 2 818 cases
In 2003: 15 000 injuries, 10% of
them are major injuries (70%
construction workers)
No official National statistics,
figures from insurance
companies for year 2003 which
are inaccurate,
No response
No response
In 2006: 296 cases
In 2005: 675 d
No response
Around 7 500 case
In 2006: 6100
In 2005: 45 143 injuries
Not recorded
No national registry
for Occupational
diseases
In 2006: 31 mortalities
In 2003: 20 deaths (70%
construction workers)
No response
No response
None during 2006
In 2005: 2 d
No response
Around 300 cases
In 2006: 2165
In 2005: 620
occupational disease
No response
No response
In 2006: 12
In 2005: 2 d
No response
Around 50 cases
In 2006: 159
In 2005: 212 deaths
No response
In 2006:1371 work injury
No response
In 2006: 2 cases
In 2006: 1 case
In 2006: 5 cases
Algeria
Bahrain
Egypt
Kuwait
Lebanon
Lybia
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Sudan
Syria
Tunisia
UAE
Yemen
a
Results from Algeria National profile
Results from Egypt National profile
c
Results from Jordan National profile
d
Results from Palestine National profile
b
85
ANNEX 2
86
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Situation in the Arab Region
A Study Undertaken for the International Labour Organization
By Dr. Rima R. Habib and Team
American University of Beirut
Questionnaire
I- OSH Legislation and Enforcement:
1.
Has your country ratified ILO Convention 155? Yes/ No
1.1
If No, what are the main obstacles that hinder its ratification?
1.2
Are there any plans for ratifying it in the near future? Yes/ No
2.
Has your country ratified ILO Convention 161? Yes/ No
2.1
If No, what are the main obstacles that hinder its ratification?
2.2
Are there any plans for ratifying it in the near future?
3.
Has your country ratified ILO Convention 187? Yes/ No
3.1
If No, what are the main obstacles that hinder its ratification?
3.2
Are there any plans for ratifying it in the near future? Yes/ No
4.
Is there an OSH legislative framework in the country? Yes/ No
4.1
If Yes, please list the titles of relevant OSH Acts:
4.2
Please list relevant sections of the country’s legislation relating to OSH:
4.3
Please list any relevant Ministerial Acts/ Decrees/Orders relating to OSH:
5.
6.
7.
8.
What OSH aspects are covered in the above mentioned Acts and Decrees/Orders?
What OSH aspects are not covered in the country’s legislation?
Since when has OSH legislation been introduced to the country?
Is the country’s OSH legislation in line with the provisions of ILO conventions? Yes/ No
8.1
If No, Please give an example:
9.
When was the country’s OSH legislation last updated?
9.1
If there have been updates, what were the issues considered in the updates or revisions to
OSH legislation?
10.
11.
What are the Governmental authorities responsible for drafting OSH laws?
Is there a tripartite OSH Committee (consisting of employers, workers, and the government)
involved in drafting OSH Decrees and Laws? Yes/ No
11.1
If Yes, when was the latest decree/legislation, and what was it?
11.2
If No, why not?
11.3
What were the contributions of the OSH committee in the Decree/Legislation?
12.
13.
What are the authorities involved in the implementation and enforcement of OSH laws?
Has OSH legislation been effectively enforced? Yes/ No
13.1
If No, why not?
14.
15.
What percentage of the economically active population is covered by OSH legislation?
What economic sectors are not covered by OSH law?
87
II- Labour Inspection systems:
16.
What percentage of the economically active population is covered by labour inspection services?
17.
What is the number and percentage of enterprises inspected during a year?
18.
How often do such inspections take place?
19.
What are the type(s) of enterprises inspected?
□
Local enterprises
□
Governmental establishments
□
Trans-national companies
□
Private institutions
□
Others: __________________________________________________
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
What is the total estimated number of enterprises that are eligible for inspection?
What criteria are considered in selecting the enterprises eligible for inspection?
What are the different inspection services existing in the country?
What is the number of inspectors performing the above mentioned inspections?
What privileges do inspectors have?
24.1
What are the main difficulties that inspectors face while performing their duties?
25.
26.
27.
28.
What is the Educational Level that inspectors have to have attained?
What type of training do inspectors receive?
What are the authorities or organizations responsible for training inspectors?
Are there any universities or academic institutions that are integrating OSH in the curricula? Yes/
No
If Yes, please list the universities or the academic institutions with the names of
the respective programs or degrees:
29.
Are there any technical institutions providing OSH training? Yes/ No
If Yes, please list the technical institutions with the names of the technical
programs:
30.
In practice, do inspectors report the defects they find at the worksite? Yes/ No
30.1
If No, why not?
31.
In practice, what is the respective mechanism of action taken by the responsible Authorities once
they receive reports from inspectors?
Are the employers charged upon detecting OSH law infringements? Yes/ No
32.1
If Yes, how are employers charged?
□
By paying a fine
□
By suspension of work operations
□
Others, specify: ___________________________________________
32.
III- Workers’ compensation system against accidents and diseases:
33.
Does a Workers’ compensation system exist in the country? Yes/ No
33.1
If yes, what percentage of the economically active population is entitled to
33.2
If yes, what percentage of the economically active population is entitled to
compensation in cases of occupational diseases?
34.
What agencies are responsible for administering Workers’ Compensation?
34.1
Are the agencies responsible for administering compensation linked to any of the
following?
□
Notification/data collection
□
Prevention services
88
□
□
□
Rehabilitation Centres
Others; specify: ___________________________________________
None of the above
IV- Occupational Accidents and diseases:
35.
Is the ILO Recording and Notification of Occupational Accidents and Diseases, 1995 Code of
Practice applied? Yes/ No
36.
Has a list of occupational diseases for compensation and/or prevention purposes been established
in your country? Yes/ No
36.1
If Yes, Is the list of occupational diseases the same as the ILO list? Yes/ No
36.2
If No, do you consult the ILO list of occupational diseases?
37.
When have the latest Occupational safety and Health Statistics been collected in your country?
37.1
According to the latest local OSH Statistics, what were the registered numbers of
occupational injuries?
37.2
According to the latest local OSH Statistics, what were the registered numbers of cases of
occupational diseases?
37.3
According to the latest local OSH Statistics, what was the estimate of work-related
mortality for the whole workforce?
V- The national system based on legislation for recording, and notification of occupational accidents and
diseases:
38.
Is there an ongoing National system for notification and recording of occupational diseases? Yes/
No
38.1
If Yes, does the above system cover all industries and sections of employment? Yes/ No
38.2
If No, list the sectors excluded from the listed records in the country:
38.3
What is the mechanism by which the reporting system works for those sectors subject to
Notification and Reporting of occupational diseases?
38.4
What proportion of occupational diseases is reported to the authorities?
39.
Is there an ongoing National system for recording and notification of occupational accidents? Yes/
No
39.1
Do the above mentioned systems of Recording and Notification cover all industries and
sectors of employment? Yes/ No
39.2
If No, please list the sectors excluded from the listed records in the country:
39.3
What is the mechanism by which the reporting system works for those sectors subjected
to Notification and Reporting of occupational accidents?
39.4
What proportion of occupational accidents is being reported to the authorities?
VI- Occupational health services:
40.
Do Occupational Health services exist in the country? Yes/ No
40.1
If occupational health services exist, what percentage of the economically active
population do they cover?
40.2
Did you face any problems with the existing occupational health services in the last 5
years? What are they?
40.3
Pinpoint the deficiencies of the occupational health services in its current status:
41.
Is there any poison control centre in the country (it can be separate or integrated within a
hospital)? Yes/ No
VII- National OSH Policy:
42.
Is there an official National OSH strategy or policy? Yes/ No
42.1
If Yes, when it was adopted?
89
42.2
42.3
What is the National Authority(s) responsible for implementing the National OSH policy?
What is the exact title of the document of the National OSH Plan/Strategy?
VIII- National OSH advisory body/ Safety Councils (as specified by National legislation)
43.
Please give a list of National OSH advisory bodies and safety councils with indication to their tripartite
or bi-partite nature:
43.1
Please give a list of the activities of the above bodies:
43.2
Are there any common projects or coordination between National OSH Advisory Bodies/
National Safety Councils and the ILO? Yes/ No
43.3
If Yes, please list two current projects:
44.
What is the role(s) of Employers’ organizations in developing the standards and codes of practice
for OSH-related issues?
What is the role(s) of workers’ syndicates in developing the standards and codes of practice for
OSH-related issues?
Are conferences held by National OSH bodies/ National Safety Councils to which workers’ and
employers’ representatives are invited for the dissemination of information? Yes/ No
46.1
If Yes, Please list the titles of the two most recent conferences with their dates:
45.
46.
IX- National OSH Situation:
47.
Does a National OSH profile exist as a separate document in your country? Yes/ No
47.1
If No, is there a current effort to issue a National profile? Yes/ No
48.
Is the national OSH situation described in any other documents? Yes/ No
48.1
If Yes, what are the exact titles of the documents?
X- National OSH management system:
49.
Is there a National OSH management system in your country? Yes/ No
49.1
If Yes, is it based on the ILO OSH-MS 2001 guidelines?
49.2
If No, please give the exact title of National, or other technical standards and codes of
practice regulating the OSH management system in your country:
XI- National OSH indicators:
50.
Please indicate which of the following national OSH indicators are in use in your country:
o
Figures and rates of occupational accidents and diseases
o
Absenteeism
o
Lifetime working ability
o
Percentage of labour force under disability pension schemes
o
Average retirement age
o
Others; please specify _________________________________
51.
52.
How often are Nation-wide Statistics on the above indicators collected?
Please give the latest figures of the available OSH indicators in your country at the National level.
XII- National OSH information centres (ILO CIS network)
53.
Are there National and other collaborating OSH information (CIS) centres in your country? Yes/
No
54.
Do the National OSH Information Centres have their own system in your country apart from ILO
CIS? Yes/ No
55.
What is the mechanism for disseminating OSH information in your country?
90
56.
Provide a list of activities undertaken by the OSH Information systems in your country in the last
2 years:
XIII- National roster of OSH professionals
57.
Has a National roster of OSH professionals been officially established? Yes/ No
58.
If Yes, what is the number of specialists included?
59.
What are the minimal Educational requirements for an OSH Specialist in your country?
60.
What is the type of training that OSH specialists receive in your country?
60.1
Who provides the above mentioned training (if any)?
61.
62.
Are OSH specialists registered by speciality and category? Yes/ No
Is there an established Order for OSH professionals in the country? Yes/ No
XIV- National OSH Programmes and/or national action plan:
63.
Do National OSH programmes and/or action plans exist in your country? Yes/ No
63.1
If Yes, please state since when has OSH programmes/ action plans existed?
63.2
Are OSH programmes/ action plans endorsed by a senior government authority? Yes/ No
63.3
What are the sources and mechanisms for funding the implementation of the National
programmes and action plans?
63.4
Please give an estimate of the allocated budget for the current National OSH plan:
63.5
Has the above mentioned amount been sufficient to proceed with National OSH activities
and plans?
63.6
What were the major achievements of the National plan during the last 5 years, and by
when are the objectives expected to be met?
63.7
What are the specialized technical, medical, and scientific institutions providing research
information to scheme OSH action plans? (Please include research institutes, laboratories,
colleges…)
XV- OSH raising awareness campaigns:
64.
65.
66.
What are the main existing/implemented campaigns/programmes? Please make a short list:
Are OSH awareness campaigns carried out at the level of enterprises? Yes/ No
65.1
If Yes, how often are these awareness campaigns carried out?
Are TV ads, programs, or media in general used to disseminate OSH messages? Yes/ No
XVI- Promotional OSH programmes and activities:
67.
What are the main National OSH programmes in the country? (Please choose as many as
applicable)
□
Construction safety
□
Mining
□
Safety
□
Agriculture safety
□
OSH in informal economy
□
Elimination of hazardous child labour
□
Elimination of silicosis
□
Others; Specify:
XVII- Asbestos:
68.
Is the use of asbestos banned/restricted in your country? Yes/ No
68.1
If Yes, what is the level of Asbestos interdiction?
□
Full
91
□
Partial; please indicate
limitations:________________________________________________
XVIII- Chemical safety:
69.
Is there a National system on chemical safety in your country? Yes/ No
69.1
If Yes, is it in line with the ILO Chemical Convention? (No.170)? Yes/ No
70.
Is Globally Harmonised System for Classification and Labelling (GHS) applied in your country?
Yes/ No
70.1
If Yes, is there a programme of GHS? Yes/ No
70.2
If Yes, explain more about the programme:
92
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Asian Regional Meeting, Busan, Republic of Korea, August – September 2006, International
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International Labour Organization (ILO). ILOLEX Database on International Labour
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International Labour Organization (ILO). Safe and Healthy Workplaces: Making Decent
Work a Reality. International Labour Office, Geneva, 2007.
http://www.ilo.ru/OSH/docs/2007/WD_Report2007.pdf
Somavia, J. Decent Work, Safe Work. Programme on Safety and Health at work and the
Environment
(SafeWork),
International
Labour
Organization
(ILO),
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http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/safework/decent.htm
Takala, J.. Introductory Report: Decent Work - Safe Work. XVIIth World Congress on Safety
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United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Economic Research Service.
Macroeconomics and Agriculture: Glossary. USDA, November 2006.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/Macroeconomics/glossary.htm
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Beyond Scarcity: Power, poverty and the Global
Water Crisis. Human Development Report. 2006. UNDP, New York, USA.
http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/
World Bank. World Development Indicators. World Bank 2006.
http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/cover.htm
World Bank. Youthink! But do you know? Glossary. World Bank 2007.
http://youthink.worldbank.org/glossary.php
World Health Organization (WHO). Working Together for Health. The World Health Report
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