High-tech transference: overcoming obstacles in the application of knowledge

Abstract

Obstacles at every level of the production process all over the world block application of the large and growing body of academic theory about health and occupational safety. Fear, resistance to change, self-interest and issues of power and control must often be overcome at worker, management and government levels before improved practices can be introduced. Israel's experience in occupational safety is illustrative, both with its sociocultural mix at home, and in its aid programmes to the developing world. Work safety at home comes under the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene. They use a variety of tools, from on-site demonstrations to written, visual and electronic aids, and point to the recent drop in work accidents as evidence of the success of their approach. With substantial changes in the economy already underway, the workplace and its health and safety problems will clearly undergo major transition. Safety training must adapt correspondingly, as old risks disappear to be replaced by new, many of them being located in the worker's central nervous system. Different transference methodologies are required for the worker in the developing nations. One primary difference between the developing and developed worlds is the definition of ‘acceptable risk’. While any successful safety programme must be grafted on to existing socioeconomic concepts, there is room for improvement in overall safety standards in many developing countries. Based on its decades of experience in medical and agricultural aid programmes in the developing world, Israel proposes safety training instruction through existing village cooperatives in rural areas, and through newly established working men'' circles in the urban workplace. The active cooperation of management is crucial to such an approach, but opposition to what smacks of ‘labour organization’ or industrial democracy can be anticipated from both management and governments. Work safety, both in the industrialized and developing worlds, is enmeshed in entrenched interests and the struggle for power. Educated and vocal public opinion in the democracies of the West is exerting increasing pressure on governments to legislate for occupational safety, and on management to implement safety measures. It is to be hoped that the example of industrialized nations can shorten the path still be trodden by the developing world.