Health, Safety and Environment - International Labour Organization

Manual 3:HEALTH, SAFETY & ENVIRONMENTFOR WORKER HS&E REPRESENTATIVES“Your world”mappingIntroduction to “Your world” mapping“Your world” mapping looks at the way in which work affects our lifeoutside the workplace. This tool can be used to help to identify priorities,because work-related ill health can have an enormous impact uponworkers’ lives and their families and friends.Poor working conditions can affect the environment workers live in, sincethe working and living environments are the same for many workers. Thismeans that occupational hazards can have harmful effects on workers,their families, and other people in the community, as well as on thephysical environment around the workplace.Example – pesticides in agricultural workWorkers can be exposed to toxic chemicals in a number of ways whenspraying pesticides: they can inhale the chemicals during and after spraying the chemicals can be absorbed through the skin and the workers can ingest the chemicals if they eat, drink, or smokewithout first washing their hands, or if drinking water has becomecontaminated with the chemicalsWorkers’ families can also be exposed in a number of ways: they can inhale the pesticides which may linger in the air they can drink contaminated water they can be exposed to residues which may be on the worker’s clothesOther people in the community can all be exposed in the same ways aswell. When the chemicals get absorbed into the soil or leach intogroundwater supplies, the adverse effects on the natural environment canbe permanent.How to map “your world”You will need to provide: a large piece of flip chart paper withthe image of a body drawn in thecentre the results of the mapping activitiesconducted earlier pens so that members can drawsimply the way that health andsafety problems affects their“world” outside work“YOUR WORLD” MAP87 Health, Safety and EnvironmentA Series of Trade Union EducationManuals for Agricultural Workers