Occupational safety and health training for waste management

The Waste Management Authority (WMA) of the Western Province under the theme Better Sanitation for better productivity addresses issues of general health and occupational safety for workers in the waste management sector.

The ILO is promoting a Green Jobs Initiative to strengthen work which can contribute to greening the environment.

Minimising all forms of waste and pollution and building sound and safe waste management systems are important components of the Green Jobs Initiative. Occupational safety and health, as an important mandate of the ILO, can contribute to the Green Jobs Initiative through the improvement of working conditions of waste collectors.

Waste collectors play an increasingly important role in recycling and managing waste and protecting our environment. Waste collectors, however, face many safety and health risks associated with their collection work such as handling heavy and dangerous waste, exposure to hot and cold working environment, or traffic accidents.

Their safety, health and working conditions are much affected by the way communities provide their waste to waste collectors. Community cooperation is essential in reducing many of these safety and health risks. T

he ILO has developed an Awareness Training Course on Work Adjustment and Recycling for Managing Waste (WARM) Program to promote the safety, health and working conditions of waste collectors and workers through the promotion of dialogue and cooperation between waste collectors and community.

The WMA in collaboration with the (ILO), piloted this training in Sri Lanka by conducting a WARM workshop on occupational health and safety reinforcing its nexus to green jobs and decent work.