Views of frontline service providers on the accreditation of occupational health services in South Africa

Background: In South Africa, occupational health services are delivered in a fragmented and complex environment. There is, however, a global emphasis on high-quality, universal occupational health coverage. Objective: To describe occupational health practitioners' perceptions of the accreditation of occupational health services. Methods: We used a mixed methods approach, which combined a self-administered web-based survey of 475 occupational health nurses and 11 semi-structured focus group discussions, which included a broad selection of occupational health stakeholders. Results: The majority of respondents supported the statutory accreditation of healthcare services for workers, provided that a phased approach is used. Challenges that need to be addressed for a successful and sustainable accreditation system include the current lack of national standards for occupational health, human resource shortages, potentially high costs of accreditation, and the suboptimal and fragmented governance of occupational health services. Conclusion: The majority of respondents were of the opinion that statutory accreditation of occupational health services will improve the quality-of-service delivery. However, prerequisites for successful and sustainable implementation of accreditation include improved collaboration between Government departments, coalition building with all stakeholders, the development of specific standards against which a service can be assessed, and education and training of occupational health practitioners to meet the established standards

Perceptions of Central Gauteng Occupational Health Nursing Practitioners of their Traditional and Expanded Roles

This paper provides an overview of the fi ndings of a cross-sectional survey conducted in 2011 that investigated the perceptions of Central Gauteng occupational health nursing practitioners of their traditional and expanded roles and role activities; using a self-administered questionnaire. In the traditional role area; high importance was given to the functions of health assessment and providing direct care of job-related emergency and minor illness episodes. The assistance of rehabilitation and relocation of disabled workers was rated low in overall importance. In the expanded role area; the highest importance was given to managing an occupational health service; while the lowest importance was given to research-related activities. The results demonstrate that occupational health nursing practitioners need to engage in research activities and conduct situational analyses of workplaces

Evaluation of Occupational Health Services and Hazards in a Car Assembly Plant in Kaduna; Nigeria

Background: The provision of occupational health services in most industries of the developing world has been very rudimentary. Various factors have been adduced to be responsible for this, none availability of protective devices, non-compliance by workers and managerial problems among others. Therefore this study was conducted to evaluate occupational hazards and the provision of occupational health services at Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Kaduna.Aim: To assess the extent of occupational hazards and the occupational health services provided by the industry (PAN). Methods: This was a cross sectional descriptive study in which cluster sampling technique was used to sample respondents. Structured, interviewer administered questionnaires with close ended questions were used to collect data.Results: One hundred and ten respondents participated in the study with a mean age of 32.7±2.8 years. Use of protective devices by respondents was: boots 96.3%, hand gloves 100%, and ear plugs 58% respectively. Pattern of occupational hazards were: exposure to chemical fumes 6.4%, noise pollution 40.9%, and chemical burns 9.1% respectively. Conclusion: Occupational hazards and injuries among PAN workers are a frequent occurrence. There is need for sustained public awareness campaigns among the workers and management on the importance of occupational safety to guide against injuries/ accidents at work sites and compliance to the use of protective devices. It is also recommended that the Inspectorate Division of Federal Ministry of Industries should pay periodic monitoring visits to industries in order to ensure a conducive and a safe working environment and also with the facility Act and related laws so as to curtail the rate of accidents and injures in Nigerian industries

Employees' Perceptions of the Aid-for-AIDS Disease-Management Programme; South Africa

It is estimated that 18-20of South Africa's more than 5 million HIV-positive individuals are formally employed. Disease management programmes for these employees vary in scope and sophistication; with services provided by the employer; or third-party specialist disease managers; or through medical aid schemes. This study surveyed 215 HIV-positive employees in two organisations contracted to the Aid for AIDS (AfA) disease management programme through their in-house medical aid schemes. The two organisations differed in their overall approach to HIV and AIDS: one mainly relies on on-site access to voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) and AfA's management of registered HIV-positive employees; while the other has invested in and actively developed a comprehensive programme that also extends to families and the community as well as links employees to the AfA programme. Responses received from 28 of the 215 employees surveyed indicate that fear of disclosure of one's HIV status and of stigmatisation are reasons for late registration with the AfA programme or non-utilisation of other available support programmes. Respondents mentioned that confidence in the employer's ability to maintain confidentiality was also an issue. Respondents' important suggestions for change included: a) on-site educational and awareness programmes for management personnel and staff in order to reduce HIV discrimination and stigmatisation; b) information directed at HIV-positive employees publicising the benefits and effectiveness of medical treatment; c) support groups for HIV-positive employees; and d) management personnel to engage with HIV-infected employees who are willing to take an active role in staff education and the development of workplace policies and programmes

AIDS and the workplace

A manual for training of trainers for HIV/AIDS education in the workplace