Occupational Health and Safety – Safe Work Program

Two experts of Canada visited the premises of the Secretariat for Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) of Mexico to present their experience of designing and implementing the Safe Work Programme, whose focus was preventing workplace accidents.  This visit was conducted in workshop format to facilitate an exchange of views among officials of Canada and Mexico, and was broadcast simultaneously as a videoconference to the 32 branch offices of Mexico’s federal labor department.
 
Noted among the main outcomes and lessons learned were the importance of utilizing mechanisms and strategies designed to produce changes in workplace health and safety mentality, behavior, values, and culture, and of support for the Safety and Health Committees, which contributed to labor authority oversight of compliance with legislation and regulations.
 
In its report, the STPS mentioned the following future steps:  more in-depth examination of the role of social marketing, assessment of the need for further development of strategies to strengthen enforcement of legislation, and promotion of the exchange of experiences. Lastly, it emphasized that this activity had achieved its aim of ensuring understanding of the importance of prevention in workplace health and safety.