Improving Workers’ Occupational Safety and Health in Selected Supply Chains in Mexico – A Vision Zero Fund

Region/Country:

Americas Mexico

Project Duration:

January 2023

December 2024

Funding and Year:

2023

: USD

5,000,000

This project is intended to help Mexico meet its labor obligations under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The Vision Zero Fund project aims to improve the occupational safety and health of workers in selected supply chains with a focus on COVID-19, female workers, and workers in vulnerable conditions.

The Problem

According to the Mexican government, more than 500,000 workers in Mexico suffer accidents in their workplace annually; many of them work in agriculture and manufacturing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1.5 million people have been infected and 135,000 have died. The pandemic has particularly affected low-wage and informal workers.

While the government has made progress in improving Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) conditions, Mexico still faces challenges in harmonizing OSH regulations; identifying and addressing sector-specific OSH risks; including gender and vulnerable workers’ considerations in OSH policies; and promoting an OSH prevention culture in the workplace, led by employers and workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges as female and other vulnerable workers face higher risks of falling into poverty and struggling to regain their livelihoods. As a result of the pandemic, it is estimated that the Mexican economy could contract up to 12 percent in 2023.

Our Strategy

The project will work with the Mexican government, the private sector, workers' organizations, and other actors to improve OSH conditions in selected supply chains, with a focus on female workers and workers in vulnerable conditions. It will do so by increasing the prevention and mitigation of COVID-19 and adherence to OSH laws and policies.

The project will support efforts to protect workers and communities from COVID-19. This includes working with the Mexican government to promote the development of industry-wide, multi-stakeholder sectoral response plans, including governments at national and regional levels, workers’ organizations, the private sector, and grassroots organizations to integrate OSH considerations into their COVID-19 policy responses. The project will also promote better understanding of drivers and constraints for OSH improvements in the targeted supply chains and improve legal and policy frameworks for OSH prevention, protection, and compensation.

Workers, particularly female workers and other vulnerable workers, will be at the core of the project. They will participate in the design and implementation of project activities.

Grantee: International Labor Organization/Vision Zero Fund

Contact Information:

(202) 693-4843

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)

Tags: International Labor Issues COVID-19 Female Workers and Other Vulnerable Workers Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Supply Chains USMCA USMCA Technical Assistance Vision Zero Fund