Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
The role and activities of public interest NGOs in promoting occupational safety and health

Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022
The role and activities of public interest NGOs in promoting occupational safety and health

The role and activities of public interest NGOs, promoting occupational safety and health

It is the main activity of public interest NGOs working in the area of occupational safety and health (OSH) to find occupational victims and to visualize their existence socially. People come to public interest NGOs seeking help when they need to identify the work- relatedness of their diseases or when they file a claim for workers’ compensation or when they face difficulties in the course of treatment or rehabilitation. Public interest NGOs do not only help individuals but also concentrate on the social meaning of their experiences, which enables society to see new problems that used to be invisible such as new hazards in workplaces, workers exposed to those new hazards, and loopholes of pre-existing safety and health management systems. To propose new legislation or policy and organize campaigns to create social pressure for their causes are also the roles of public interest NGOs. There have been significant contributions of public interest NGOs especially in improving coverage and inclusiveness of OSH systems. Public interest NGOs in many countries are still working hard for their OSH systems to include workers in small-sized enterprises or informal sectors, unorganized workers, and unregistered migrant workers. Justice and equity are the values emphasized frequently by public interest NGOs in their work. Justice usually means social controls to protect the interest of workers and the public from the private interest of employers. This is often the philosophical base of the OSH Act in countries. Equity is often a public interest NGO demand that government provide OSH service to workers who have been left behind. Public interest NGOs have been bridges among various social partners for general or specific missions of safety and health in workplaces. They organize dialogues between workers and OSH professionals, employers and researchers, and discussions between
different stakeholders and lawmakers. Those activities enable academics and professionals to see a broader reality than their own
specialties and to facilitate contributions to the public interest. Global capitalism has grown rapidly and become highly structured, creating gaps in OSH systems. Invisibility becomes more serious, leaving more people left behind. It also becomes more difficult to keep the key values of justice and equity in an OSH system of a single country. Physical distance as well as language barriers are a big burden for most public interest NGOs to overcome for international communication or solidarity actions. The ability of public interest NGOs to address these issues is a key component of effective OSH.

Jeong-ok Kong

Elsevier Korea LLC

January 2022

Sri Wahyuni

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English

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Safety and Health at Work Vol. 13 Supplement 2022