Prevention of accidents and injuries in developing countries

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Abstract
Available data show that injuries at the workplace are a serious and growing problem in developing compared to industrialized countries. A major factor responsible for this state of affairs is the fact that largely illiterate and impoverished peasants are being transformed into wage-earning industrial workers. Others include hazardous working environments, effects of heat and humidity, inadequacy or absence of mechanization, and a multiplicity of small-scale enterprises. Preventive measures must be based on the understanding of these factors and their relative importance. Recommendations are made for accident and injury prevention in developing countries based on methods that have been tried and found effective in industrialized countries. Three approaches are advocated: (a) improvements at workplaces aimed at hazard elimination and a positive approach to health and safety at work; (b) national efforts (legislation and enforcement); and (c) international cooperation between industrialized and developing countries. The role of such bodies as the World Health Organisation (through its Global Accident Prevention Programme), the International Labour Organisation, and other regional groupings (e.g. The Organisation for African Unity) in the prevention of accidents and injuries at work the world over are highlighted.