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Sustainable development and Community relations |
HealthHealth
A healthy workforce contributes to business success. We are committed to preventing new cases of occupational disease. Our target is to achieve a significant reduction in these cases year-on-year through continuous identification, evaluation and control of workplace exposures.
Occupational health and safety is also a core value and a major priority at QMM. This concern translates comfortably into a firm commitment to tackle public health issues in the host community.
Before construction began, QMM assessed the potential of the local workforce to meet project needs. Villagers who lived at proximity to the various construction worksites were identified and candidates were pre-qualified through screening and training. Contractors were required to hire labour from this database whenever possible before looking elsewhere.
The net result was that of the 4,500 people employed by QMM and its contractors during the initial construction phase, 2,500 were Malagasy from the Anosy region and a further 1,100 were migrant Malagasy workers from elsewhere. Only 20 per cent (or 900) of the workers were expatriates.
Intense training and education programmes have helped to optimise local people's working performance, particularly in the areas of safety and quality.
The training and development programme has been expanded to include general livelihood skills, basic literacy and numeracy, managerial skills and other skilled work.
Education also plays an important role in protecting the health and safety of employees and their communities, both in terms of occupational exposures and social conditions. A health and safety awareness project was expanded to the communities.
Working closely with world-renowned authorities and with the support of the government agency (CNLS), QMM implemented a comprehensive workforce and community HIV/AIDS education and prevention programme including:
- Peer educator training;
- Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) campaigns;
- Community education (through radio, Cinèmobile and industrial theatre);
- Partnership with other NGOs active in the field (including USAID, UNICEF, International HIV/AIDS Alliance, GTZ, Population Services International, ASOS and the National HIV/AIDS Prevention Committee).
Malaria has traditionally been a health threat in southern Madagascar and the increased population density, and lack of adequate drainage in crowded urban areas may increase the incidence of the disease. A malaria prevention programme operates in collaboration with ISOS to biologically control the mosquito presence through spreading and distribution of impregnated bed nets.
These initiatives are in addition to the provision of basic health care facilities in the rural areas from which many of QMM’s employees come.
