OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH PRACTICES IN THE ETHIOPIAN FLORICULTURE SUB-SECTOR (THE CASE OF SEVEN FLOWER FARMS)

Abstract

The overall objective of this study is to examine the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) practices in the seven flower farms. It also attempts to examine the provision of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to worker, employees’ awareness on the use of hazardous chemical, safe work practices and procedures, and the role of farms in addressing OSH problems. The study revealed a number of OSH related issues in seven flower farms. It also discusses certain social and environmental concerns in the farms. Accordingly, the farms offered employment opportunities for over 2129 citizens. Majority of the workers, however, are employed as daily labourers or as fixed-term of employment. Consequently, employees do not receive letter of employment from their employers and cannot be sure of their employments throughout their service. Employers could lay off workers without any notification or compensation violating workers’ rights. The findings of the study also indicate that many of the workers never receive any induction at the initial stages of their employment and any other training related to occupational safety and health at work. Besides, the farms lack well-developed OSH policies that ensure the wellbeing of employees. It can, therefore, be concluded that the farms have far to go to improve the employment and working conditions of employees, the provision of PPE, inductions and trainings, and the development and implementation of workable OSH policy. The paper proposes, among other things, that the farms should ensure adequate provision of PPE; should provide occupational health and safety trainings to workers on regular basis; and should also strive to develop and implement OSH policies to safeguard the safety and health of workers.