The World Health Organization (WHO)/ International Labour Organization (ILO) Joint Effort on Occupational Health and Safety in Africa Update 12 The Institute of Occupational Health Sciences (IST), Switzerland, and the French African News Bulletin

The Institute of Occupational Health Sciences (L’Institut To promote these activities and as a platform for the coun- universitaire romand de Santé au Travail) is the regional tries with which IST collaborates, an electronic bulletin is centre for competence in occupational health in the French published periodically on the IST website: speaking part of Switzerland. Located in Lausanne, IST has http://www.iurst.ch (African News Bulletin located via the four main scientific fields of activity: occupational medicine, Coopération page). occupational hygiene, ergonomics and analytical laborato- The electronic bulletin is available as HTML pages and ries. These areas are covered by a multidisciplinary staff of PDF files. A brief index to the French African News Bulletin approximately fifty people: physicians, hygienists, chemists, is given below: geologists, physicists, biologists, ergonomists, and techni- cians. They are supported in their work by documentation Number 1 April 2000 and various technical support resources. IST researchers Articles on: The prohibition of asbestos; Illumination and have gained a solid national and international recognition in ergonomics; Occupational health hazards in the cotton in- specific areas. Services include teaching and training, re- dustry in Mali; IST activities 1999 in Burkina Faso, Congo, search and consultancy. Consultancy services offered by IST Guinea, and Niger; Information Briefs; Contacts are targeted to the public and private sectors. They range in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Morocco, Niger and Switzer- from information dissemination, to workplace health risk as- land. sessments, analytical services, and clinical occupational medicine. Number 2 October 2000 For many years the managerial staff and the executive Special Bulletin on Occupational Hygiene. Articles cover: staff of IST have participated with missions of the ILO and The discipline of occupational hygiene; Occupational hy- WHO in various countries of Africa, Asia (Vietnam), South giene principles; Risk analysis; Is occupational hygiene a America and Eastern Europe. These missions included oc- durable profession?; Occupational hygiene in Switzerland; cupational health teaching and technical assistance in the Occupational hygiene in French speaking Africa; The In- field of occupational hygiene. IST has developed over a ternational Occupational Hygiene Association (IOHA); number of years, a programme of co-operation with sev- Occupational hygiene instrumentation; Niger – chemical eral countries of French-speaking Africa. It thus fills its risks in the field of agriculture: case of the pesticides; Bio- task of occupational health promotion and the transfer and logical monitoring; Information Briefs; Contacts. experience sharing of knowledge. The activities of the IST in the French speaking countries of Africa assists in the Number 3 January 2001 development of occupational health in these countries. IST Special Bulletin on Ergonomics. Articles cover: Ergonomics is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Occupational Health and another look on work; Work on Computer Screens: Risks and a contributor to the WHO/ILO Joint Effort on OHS in Africa. prevention; Gender issues in the organization of work; Hospi- tal ergonomics; Symposium on ergonomics, occupational NEWS BULLETIN NORTH-SOUTH CO-OPERATION psychology and health, Geneva 2001; Training in Ergonomics; (BULLETIN D’INFORMATION COOPÉRATION NORD-SUD) Ergonomics Associations; Information Briefs; Contacts. Collaboration conventions have been signed between IST and the University Hassan II, , Morocco; the Number 4 May 2001 University of Cotonou, Benin and the Office de Santé des Special Bulletin on Morocco. Articles cover: The Occupa- Travailleurs (OST – The Office of the Health Workers), tional Health Unit (USAT) of the Faculty of Medicine of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Relations also exist in par- Casablanca; Occupational ; Promotion of ticular with Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia. occupational health in the Maghreb countries (North Africa)

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003 18 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SOUTHERN AFRICA 28 - 30 September, 2000; The Maghreb Charter for occu- CONTACTS FROM THE NEWS BULLETIN NUMBER 9 AND pational health at work; The USAT and IST Convention; THE IST WEBSITE Accidents involving blood exposure at the teaching hospi- Burkina Faso Dr. Kapouné Karfo tal Ibn Rochd, Casablanca; The Viral Hepatitis risk Ibn 03 BP 7036 Ouagadougou Rochd Hospital; Biological monitoring; Ergonomics 1950 Tel: +226 30 70 60 / 226 30 72 95 to1970; Contacts. Fax: +226 31 51 89 Email: [email protected]

Benin Number 5 November 2001 Dr. R. Péreira Articles on: Risks related to hospital waste; The diesel en- Ministère Formation Professionnelle, gine; Health workers in Cotonou, Benin; Ocular traumatisms Travail, et Réforme Administrative BP 969, Cotonou in welders in Cotonou; Soapstone, is it dangerous for health?; Tel: +229 31 45 56 Modeling of health risks; Occupational Medicine Conference Fax: +229 31 38 73 Email: [email protected] of the Countries of the Mediterranean, 26–28 October 2001, Marrakech Morocco; Information Briefs; Contacts. Professor Benjamin Fayomi University of Cotonou Email: [email protected] Number 6 May 2002 Guinea Special Bulletin on Burkina Faso. Articles on: Occupational Dr. Abdoulaye Diallo (historical); Occupational health Directeur Général Service National de Médecine du Travail (S.N.M.T.) hazards in hospitals; Occupational health hazards in the BP 585 Conakry Guinea textile industry; Health and safety study on the gold bear- Tel: +224 46 30 34 Fax: +224 41 38 11 and 41 38 90 ing site of artisan exploitation; Factors limiting the Email: [email protected] participation of private sector workers in the annual medi- Mali cal visit; Work in the world: the massacre; North-South Dr. A. Cissé co-operation – the Internet forum; IST Collaboration Con- I.N.P.S. BP 53 Bamako ventions; Contacts. Tel: +223 21 57 03 Fax: +223 21 47 31

Number 7 October 2002 Morocco Articles on: Questionnaire for tracking health problems at Dr. Kholti Faculté de médecine, Université Hassan II, Casablanca work; Extension of health services to small companies; Tel: +212 47 14 54 Elimination of the worst forms of child labour, Morocco; Fax: +212 29 80 70

Estimates of exposure to chemical agents and dust; Air Niger Pollution in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; IST Conventions; Mr. Adamou Zabeyrou Inspecteur du travail Information Briefs; Contacts. Ministère Fonction publique et Travail, BP 11.087 Niamey Tel: +227 73 54 64 Number 8 March 2003 Fax: +227 73 74 63 Articles on: Health hazard evaluation workshop, Email: [email protected]

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; Safety Data Cards for dan- IST Switzerland gerous substances; Exposure databases; Multidisciplinary Professor Michel Guillemin Director in OH: tasks of the different specialists; Exposure to mer- IST, Rue du Bugnon 19, 1005 Lausanne, Switzerland cury at gold washing sites in Burkina Faso; Ergonomics; Tel: +41 (0)21 314 74 21 Fax: +41 (0)21 314 74 20 Information Briefs; Contacts. Email: [email protected]

Dr. Mohammed Mokrane Number 9 June 2003 Collaboration North-South Articles on: Convention of co-operation between the OST, Tel: +41 (0)21 314 56 04 Fax: +41 (0)21 314 74 20 Burkina Faso and IST; An IST research project on the po- Email: [email protected] tential emission of products containing asbestos; Third Olivier Favre Congress of the National Network of the Promotion of Health Hospital, Scientific Collaborator, Webmaster in the Penitentiary Service; Exposure to fibres of an as- Tel: +41 (0)21 314 71 47 Fax: +41 (0)21 314 74 20 bestos substitute: Case of the Regional Hospital complex Email: [email protected] of Tenkodogo, Burkina Faso; Information Briefs; Contacts.

This is the twelfth of a series of articles on the WHO/ILO Joint Switzerland). The text published in the journal OHSA has been Effort on OHS in Africa. This article is based on online Google reviewed by Olivier Favre, IST. French to English translations of the French African News Bul- letin plus the section on IST at the HSE, U.K. website For further information on the AJE contact: (Organisations concerned with Health and Safety Information, Dr. Gerry Eijkemans, email: [email protected]

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