SUMMARY OF WHOLE REPORT:

Key Goal: TO TACKLE ON OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY PRECAUTIONS FOR PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTING A
WORKPLACE POLICY ON HIV/AIDS

Why have a workplace policy on HIV/AIDS?

A workplace policy provides the framework for enterprise action to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and manage its impact. An
increasing number of companies have workplace or company policies on HIV/AIDS. A policy:

• provides a clear statement about non-discrimination;

• ensures consistency with appropriate national laws;

• lays down a standard of behaviour for all employees (whether infected or not);

• gives guidance to supervisors and managers;

• helps employees living with HIV/AIDS to understand what support and care they will receive, so they are more likely to come
forward for voluntary testing;

• helps to stop the spread of the virus through prevention programmes;

• assists

AND THE KEY ACTORS OF THE WORKPLACE THAT The Code identifies AS THOSE who will need to be trained and gives advice as
to what training IS NEEDED. And the ones we’ve only highlighted in our report: managers, supervisors and personnel officers,
peer educators, factory/labour inspectors.

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About 40 million people across the world are living with HIV; 36 million are working-age adults (ILO, 2006). The vast majority of
those infected live in Africa. The ILO estimates that over 70 per cent of them are workers, engaged in both formal and informal
economic activities. Most of them are in their productive and reproductive prime and, as such, are essential to social and
economic security and national development. In this context, the workplace and its occupational health services can play a vital
role in enterprise, sectoral, national, regional or international efforts to combat HIV/AIDS (and other infectious diseases such as
hepatitis B and tuberculosis) by expanding the provision of treatment, care and support, as well as promoting preventive
measures and protection of the rights of those affected to continue working without fear of stigma or discrimination.

the ILO Programme on HIV/AIDS was formally established in November 2000. The Programme developed a code of practice on
HIV/AIDS and the world of work

The ILO code of practice is so far the only ILO instrument devoted exclusively to the subject and is written as a model regulation.

Many existing ILO instruments cover protection against discrimination as well as prevention, care and support at the workplace

The code also identifies further needs:

• to carry out awareness-raising campaigns;

• to create links with public health promotion programmes;

• to develop and implement practical measures to support behavioural change; and

• to establish, in partnership with occupational health services, community outreach programmes aimed at workers, their
families and the community at large.

The code forms the cornerstone of the ILO’s efforts against HIV/AIDS and is now being used by policy-makers and workplace
partners in over 60 countries as the basis for their own national action programmes, enterprise policies and collective
agreements.

Summary of key principles in the ILO code of practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work

(a) A workplace issue: HIV/AIDS is a workplace issue because it affects the workforce, and because the workplace can play a
vital role in limiting the transmission and effects of the epidemic.

(b) Non-discrimination: There should be no discrimination or stigma against workers on the basis of real or perceived HIV
status.

(c) Gender equality: More equal gender relations and the empowerment of women are vital to preventing the transmission of
HIV and helping people to manage its impact.

(d) Healthy work environment: The workplace should minimize occupational risk, and be adapted to the health and capabilities
of workers.

(e) Social dialogue: A successful HIV/AIDS policy and programme needs cooperation and trust between employers, workers and
governments

(f) No screening for purposes of employment: Testing for HIV at the workplace should be carried out as specified in the code,
should be voluntary and confidential, and should never be used to screen job applicants or employees.

(g) Confidentiality: Access to personal data, including a worker’s HIV status, should be bound by the rules of confidentiality set
out in existing ILO instruments.

(h) Continuing the employment relationship: Workers with HIV-related illnesses should be able to work in appropriate
conditions for as long as they are medically fit to do so.

(i) Prevention: The social partners are in a unique position to promote prevention efforts through information, education and
support for behaviour change.

(j) Care and support: Workers are entitled to affordable health services and to benefits from statutory and occupational
schemes.

Health services and HIV/AIDS

over 100 million health workers are delivering services worldwide (Joint Learning Initiative, 2004), “health for all” is far from
being achieved.

The HIV epidemic, added to existing pressures, is overwhelming the health system in a number of countries.

Over 50 per cent of hospital beds in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are occupied by people with HIV-related illness, even
though most people with HIV/AIDS are cared for at home.

Systems already unable to cope are weakened further by the AIDS-related deaths and disability of large numbers of health
personnel. Moreover, those working in the health sector, in providing care to patients with HIV, are also at risk from
transmission through needle-stick injury or contact with contaminated blood. While this risk is low, it is increased in
workplaces where basic OSH rules are not respected.
The greater workload resulting from the epidemic, the fear of infection, and the lack of adequate safety and health provision
and of HIV-specific training impose an enormous psychological and physical burden on health workers. “An expanded, well-
trained and secure health service workforce is essential to curbing the transmission of HIV and to the provision of care,
treatment and support to those who need them.”

Capacity building

The code of practice prescribes training the key actors in the world of work
on how to address HIV/AIDS issues as the most essential tool to reduce
spread of infection and mitigate its impact, particularly regarding
discrimination and stigma.

The Code identifies the following groups of people who will need to be trained and gives
advice as to what training is needed for each group:

• managers, supervisors and personnel officers

• peer educators

• workers’ representatives

• health and safety officers

• factory/labour inspectors

• workers who may come into contact with blood and other body fluids.

This training should be targeted at, and adapted to, each of the different groups being trained: managers, supervisors and
personnel officers; workers and their representatives; trainers of trainers; peer educators; OSH officers; and factory/labour
inspectors

Innovative approaches should be sought to meet the costs of training. For example, enterprises can seek external support from
national AIDS programmes or other relevant stakeholders by borrowing instructors or having their own trained. Training
materials can vary enormously, according to available resources. They can be adapted to local customs and to the different
circumstances of women and men. Trainersshould also be trained to deal with prejudices against minorities, especially in
relation to ethnic origin or sexual orientation. They should draw on case studies and available good practice materials. The best
trainers are often colleagues of those they are training, and peer education is therefore recommended at all levels. It should
become part of a workplace’s annual training plan, which should be developed in consultation with workers’ representatives.

Training for managers, supervisors and personnel officers

Training is essential at all levels in the workplace to ensure that managers and supervisors understand the need for and support
the development of AIDS policies and programmes, and that all key groups are able to implement them effectively.

The training of supervisory personnel is an important way of ensuring that they are appropriately sensitive to the problem and
to the needs of infected workers. In addition to participating in information and education programmes that are directed at all
workers, supervisory and managerial personnel should receive training to enable them:

• to explain, and respond to questions about, the workplace’s HIV/AIDS policy;

• to help other workers, on the basis of sound information about HIV/ AIDS, to overcome misconceptions about the spread of
infection at the workplace;
• to explain reasonable accommodation options to workers with HIV/ AIDS so as to enable them to continue to work as long as
possible;

• to identify and manage workplace behaviour, conduct or practices which discriminate against or alienate workers with
HIV/AIDS;

• to provide advice about the health services and social benefits which are available.