International SOS to Launch Legal Framework on Myanmar Occupational Health and Safety in Manufacturing Sector
U Aung/Xinhua
A woman works at a garment factory of Hlaingtharyar Industrial Zone in Yangon.
International SOS Foundation and Audier & Partners Law Firm is going to launch a paper that provides a legal and risk management guideline for the manufacturing sector for local and joint venture companies with foreign capital entering Myanmar.
“Myanmar’s expanding economy presents exciting opportunities to international companies in the manufacturing sector. However, some organisations are unaware that specific health risks and occupational health legislation can impact their business,” said Robert Tyler, country manager of International SOS Myanmar.
The legal framework will be a compilation of occupational health and safety legislation aimed at helping manufacturers in understanding their responsibilities to their employees, International SOS said in a statement.
This will also minimise industrial related risks through compliance of occupational health regulations and implementing best practices, it added.
The paper covers main national regulations related to the management of work health and safety responsibilities of employers in order to prevent industrial hazards, occupational diseases and accidents at the workplace.
It also contains details of employers’ liabilities when employees get injured, since such damage can trigger expensive compensation as well as disruption of manufacturing operations.
Key recommendations to get a financial return on prevention when avoiding direct, indirect and human costs caused by industrial accidents which might result in lengthy hospitalisations and expensive evacuations are also covered in the paper.
International SOS, in partnership with an international law firm Audiers & Partners and the International SOS Foundation, will host the official launching of the paper “Myanmar Occupational Health and Safety Framework for the Manufacturing Sector”, at the Thilawa Special Economic Zone on March 9 at 2pm.
The launch will be preceded by a seminar where a panel of medical, occupational health and legal specialists will share on the topics of duty of care and risk management mitigation at the workplace.
Dr Akiko Nomura, medical director, Indochina International SOS Thailand, will talk about understanding risks in Myanmar for expatriates and business travellers from 2-2:20pm; Dr Hitoe Tomura, occupation health specialist, will talk about occupational health in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector from 2:20-2:40pm; Florence Grangerat, attorney-at-law, Audier & Partners, will present a legal paper on “Myanmar Occupational Health and Safety Framework for the Manufacturing Sector” from 2:40-3pm; and Robert Tyler will speak on how to achieve a financial return on prevention through implementation of best practices and legal compliance from 3-3:20pm.
International SOS said the event will also bring together the largest national and foreign manufacturing companies in Myanmar, in particular Japanese companies.
“This will be a unique opportunity for companies to share their insights, understand Myanmar’s landscape of occupational health in the manufacturing sector and learn how to achieve legal compliance and business success through managing health risks faced by their workforce,” Tyler said.
International SOS, a medical and travel security risk services company, works on improving safety, security and health of people working abroad or on remote assignments in over 90 countries.
