OSH management systems in clothing factories can have significant impacts on the business revenue and employer output. Jasan Socks Vietnam Co. Ltd., a factory located in Hai Phong province, with a manufacturing business focused on knitted and crocheted apparel, joined our programme in April 2018 after struggling to promote an effective management system on the premises. Jasan did not recruit a full-time OSH officer and all activities on this topic were carried out by another member of staff who was not involved full-time. As a result, many employees were under-trained in workplace safety, putting them at greater risk of injury. Through advisory sessions with Better Work Vietnam and enterprise advisors, Jasan gradually built a new OSH management system with a proper council, including full-time qualified staff. This new council has shown some promising results in improving working conditions, which is positively correlated with worker productivity. Due to the programme, non-compliance dropped from 29 issues in 2018 (first year of the factory joining the programme) to 17 in 2019.
In 2020, we aim to provide more OSH training not only for the staff in charge of this topic, but also for the OSH Collaborator network to promote awareness and encourage good health and safety attitudes and practices in the factory.” said Phuong Tran, Jasan Head of Human Resources & Administration.
“Since becoming a PICC member, it has been much easier to propose some OSH improvement suggestions to the management Board and then implement them in the factory,” said Phuong Dao, Jasan Compliance Officer and a Performance Improvement Consultative Committee (PICC) member.
“The action plans are made in consultation with (the) management team and worker representatives. In this way workers feel listened to and they are aware of their own safety and health in the workplace,” added Phuong Dao.
The introduction of a good safety and health management system is vital not only in improving the workplace environment for employees but also for enhancing business productivity.
♦ Non-compliance dropped from 29 issues in 2018 (first year of the factory joining the programme) to 17 in 2019, with less than five repeated non-compliances in OSH repeated between both years.
♦ Establishment of an OSH Council, which includes a full-time OSH Officer, OSH collaborator network and members of the PICC.
♦ Development of an effective work strategy that encourages cross-checking sessions and active sharing of information through online platform among team members.
Initiated by the Better Work programme, a Performance Improvement Consultative Committee (PICC) comprises an equal number of management and worker representatives and promotes bipartite dialogues to reach a mutual consensus.