Sound management of chemicals:

key to improving workers’ and communities’

health in Latin America
Main achievements and outcomes of the Projects implemented by
Sustainlabour with the support of the
Quick Start Programme (QSP) of SAICM

Produced by Sustainlabour, December 2014

Authors: Laura Maffei, Laura Martín Murillo

Thanks to contributions from Isamar Escalona

This report has been produced with the support of UNEP through the
joint program with Sustainlabour “A Just Transition towards
Sustainability”.

 
Index
Introduction 4

Challenges for chemicals management 7

Workers’ contribution to SAICM implementation in Latin America 12

28
Main Results of Sustainlabour’s QSP Project 21

21
Conclusions 31

Bibliography 36

43

3 
 1. Introduction
Modern societies benefit enormously from innovation
and developments that have taken place in the
chemical industry. However, bearing in mind that
these factors have also significantly reduced lead-
times for both production and commercialisation,
there often isn't time for substance risk assessments
to be carried out before these compounds enter the
market
This has resulted in many devastating consequences
for the environment and also for people's health.
Today, chemical pollution is one of our main
environmental challenges. This is a worldwide
problem and extends to the most isolated corners of
the planet. It is not only causing very serious health
problems in plant and animal communities but also in
human communities.
Trends indicate that the rate of new chemical
production and commercialisation will continue to
accelerate in coming years. Also, production will
increasingly move into developing countries and
emergent economies. Generally speaking, these
countries have fewer resources to carry out adequate
chemical management controls or to implement
safety measures for the environment and the
population.
For decades the international community has
established diverse mechanisms and instruments to
regulate chemical management. In 2006 the adoption
of the Strategic Approach to International
Chemicals Management (SAICM) established a
framework for the integration of these different
instruments into the general objective of achieving the
"goal 2020" of the Johannesburg Plan of
Implementation. This states: “assuring that, by 2020,
chemicals are produced and used in ways that
minimize significant adverse impacts on the
environment and human health”. Along with SAICM's
approval, the Quick Start Programme (QSP) was
established with the objective of supporting SAICM's
implementation in developing countries.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             4
Workers' organisations have actively participated in
this process as they are firsthand witnesses to the
fact that that workers make up a significant amount
of chemical exposure victims. Also, these
organisations have leverage to be part of the
solution for two reasons. Firstly they can be active
protagonists in chemical risk reduction in their
workplaces and secondly they can influence policy
at local and national levels.
Within this context Sustainlabour (International
Labour Foundation for Sustainable Development)
has carried out two projects in Latin American
countries. These projects aimed to strengthen trade
union capacities, and position these unions to better
contribute to SAICM's implementation in their
respective countries and also at a regional level.
The countries included in the projects were Brazil,
Chile and Uruguay (2008-2010) and El Salvador,
Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic (2011-
2013).
These countries showed economic differences in
rates of chemical production and use. There were
also socio-economic differences and varying
abilities of institutional capacities to deal with
chemical and hazardous waste challenges. Several
had relative institutional strength, and this was
especially true for the Southern Cone countries.
However, there were important differences in terms
of social dialogue and intervention in national
policy. In Central American and Caribbean
countries, needs were much greater both in terms
of union capacities and deficiencies in authorities'
abilities to implement national chemical policies.
Even though the region has made significant
progress in recent years, high levels of precarious
and informal labour continues to persist in all six
countries. Rates range between 36% of informal
labour in Uruguay to almost 70% in El Salvador and
Nicaragua.
With the exception of Chile and Uruguay, only a
minority (between 20% and 35%) of the
economically active population has some form of
health protection cover. Furthermore, low levels of
formality and protection enormously complicate the
possibility of registering accidents and occupational
diseases, and seriously impede identifying links to
chemical exposure. Rates of under-registration are
estimated as ranging from 70% to 90% by
responsible authorities, and depend on country and
sector.
Likewise, significant progress has been made at the
chemical management level and every country has
drawn up national profiles and management plans.
Nevertheless, there are still challenges ahead
regarding the improvement of control capacities to
guarantee compliance. In many of these important
gaps remain such as in electronic waste or packaging
management.
This document's goal is to highlight the main
achieved outcomes stemming from both projects, with
a special focus on three outputs: safe chemical
management at a national level, increasing civil
society's participation and articulation and; direct
impacts at a sectorial and workplace level.
It should be noted that these projects were aimed at
both workers and worker organisations. This
contributed an additional objective of strengthening
union structures and agendas to better deal with
chemicals issues. Both projects gave very significant
results on this. Strengthening trade unions and
including chemical risk issues in their agendas is key
for two reasons. Firstly to obtain better and more
highly qualified participation in national processes.
Secondly, to encourage unions to actively search for
solutions and alternatives.
Additionally, when attempts are made to reinforce
environmental requirements, health protection or
other workers’ rights, job protection and
competitiveness are often cited against this. Trade
union understanding and commitment to this
discussion is fundamental if progress is to be made
on an ambitious agenda.
The first section of this report describes the main
challenges for chemical management at both a
worldwide and regional level and includes: trends in
production and commercialisation; risks posed to
human health and the environment; links between
health and safety at work; and last but certainly not
least the main international instruments for sound
chemical management.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             5
The second section of this report covers general
characteristics of Sustainlabour's two projects
which were implemented with QSP of SAICM's
support. This section begins with a detailed
description of the national context. It focuses on,
the country's socioeconomic level, the use and
regulation of chemicals, and occupational health
and safety issues. It continues with, a look at the
project impact both in quantitative terms - the
number and characterization of direct or indirect
beneficiaries,, and qualitative terms - contribution to
national agendas, dialogue promotion among other
stakeholders, provision of tools and development of
capacities, awareness raising in specific sectors
and groups and some direct results at a workplace
level.
As a conclusion, some of the main “lessons learnt”
from the projects, along with suggestions and
recommendations, are presented. This follows on
from these four years of collective work in the
Central and South Americas where the aim has
been and continues to be to progress towards a
safer and more responsible management of
chemicals.
Acknowledgements:
Sustainlabour wishes to especially thank the trade
unions involved in the implementation of the project.
Without their commitment it would not have been
possible to achieve the results described in this
report: Confederação de Trabalhadores do Ramo
Químico do Brasil (CNQ/CUT); Central Única de
Trabajadores de Chile (CUT); Central Autónoma de
Trabajadores Salvadoreños (CATS), Central
Democrática de los Trabajadores (CTD), y
Confederación Sindical de Trabajadores
Salvadoreños (CSTS) en El Salvador; Frente
Nacional de los Trabajadores de Nicaragua; Central
Autónoma Sindical Clasista (CASC), Confederación
Nacional Unitaria de Sindicatos (CNUS), y
Confederación Nacional de Trabajadores
Democráticos (CNTD) en República Dominicana; y
Plenario Intersindical de Trabajadores – Congreso
Nacional de Trabajadores (PIT-CNT) de Uruguay.
Our thanks also go to the Trade Union
Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) for its
commitment and valuable collaboration in different
stages of the project.
We would also like to express our gratitude for the
support of SAICM Focal Points and of the different
governmental authorities who have contributed to the
different project activities. Also thank you to the
nongovernmental organizations, intergovernmental
bodies and other institutions that have generously
contributed with their experiences and knowledge.

A very special thank you goes to SAICM’s Secretariat

for its permanent support through these four years of
work.

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             6
 2. Challenges for Chemicals’ Management
countries with less labour costs and weaker
a. Global Production and Use
environmental regulations. (UNEP, 2012a)
of Chemicals
One of the greatest challenges for chemical
Chemicals are a part of everyday life; they are
management is the rate of innovation and research
present in almost all products which are used and
on the use and development of chemicals. This is
consumed daily. Virtually all sectors of the economy
happening much faster than the time needed to
use chemicals: the textile industry, construction,
carry out health and safety studies. Production and
mining, the food industry, agriculture, aquaculture,
commercialisation often start before risks are
health, transportation, etc. They all involve the use of
properly evaluated, and without taking into account
chemicals at some point in their processes.
precautionary principles. (ILO, 2013)Therefore, out
of the 248,000 substances found in the market
According to data presented in the Global Chemicals
(UNEP, 2012), sufficient information for only a
Outlook (GCO), production, use and consumption of
small portion is to be found. According to studies
chemicals has experienced an explosive and constant
cited in the GCO, out of 2,500 substances
growth in the last few decades, from USD 171,000
produced in great volumes in the European Union,
million in sales in 1970 to more than USD 4.1 billion in
only 14% have sufficient data to comply with EU
2011. It is estimated that by 2020 worldwide
Directives and for a further 21% there is no data
production of chemicals will increase by 85% in
available at all. In the United States of America this
comparison to 1995 levels. (UNEP, 2013)
proportion is even worse: out of 3,000 substances
that are commercialised in great volume (more than
About 80% of production is concentrated in a small
500ton/year), OECD required data is available for
group of countries, among them are China and Brazil.
only 7% of them, and there is no data at all for
Trends show that developing countries and
another 43%. (UNEP, 2013)
economies in transition are increasingly participating
in production, use and final disposal of chemicals.
Positive contributions to societies arising from
Today, China is the greatest consumer of textile
chemicals are undeniable. However, the serious
chemicals at 42% of global consumption; pesticide
human health and environmental problems that
consumption in Latin American countries has
their proliferation and use have caused is equally
increased by up to 60% since the late 1990's. (UNEP,
undeniable. These range from acute and chronic
2013)
effects on health to generalised soil, water and
atmosphere pollution. Many fires, explosions and
In addition to the international commerce of "pure"
other disasters result from inadequate controls of
chemicals, a great number are exported or imported
chemical risks.
as products or waste through commercialisation and
transportation. For example, electronic products use
up to 500 different substances including heavy metals b. Public and environmental
and endocrine disruptors. health
Industrialised countries manufacture many electronic Pollution by chemicals is one of the most serious
devices which are then exported to countries where challenges faced by humanity nowadays. It
there is less control and management capacity. These constitutes a serious threat to ecosystems, human
devices may be for use and/or final disposal - and in and environmental health and the livelihood of a
some cases final disposal occurs in inadequate great part of the world population. Once freed into
conditions (UNEP, 2013). It is worth mentioning that the atmosphere, chemicals can contaminate the air
out of all commerce, the e-waste sector has grown and produce gases such as those responsible for
the most in the last few years. There is a growing the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion or those
trend towards transferring waste to developing which contribute to acid rain. Chemicals can pollute
 

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             7
water resources through direct discharging or the
deposition of atmospheric pollutants. This pollution
can have damaging effects on water organisms and
on the availability of water for human consumption
(UNEP, 2013). For example, a study published in
2008 found that more than 90% of the sampled water
and fish were contaminated by various pesticides.
(UNEP, 2012b)
Likewise, industrial leaks, mining, pesticides and
deposition of atmospheric pollutants can also pollute
the soil - affecting harvests cultivated in contaminated
soils, diminishing agricultural productivity and causing
adverse effects on flora, fauna and human health
through the food chain or simply by exposure to
pollutants alone. (UNEP, 2013)
Chemical pollution can happen for different reasons.
For instance, pollution from industrial spillways is
relatively easier to control than emissions from diffuse
sources like run-offs in rural areas. Among the main
concerns are heavy metals, organ chlorides, organic
pollutants derived from fertilizers and
organophosphate substances derived from pesticides,
many of which are Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POP). (UNEP 2012b)
Accidental contamination of food and water from
pesticide use is common in developing countries due
to management, storing and utilization deficiencies.
This is worsened by the presence of dangerous
pesticides that have already been replaced in
developed countries by safer products. (Buccini,
2006) Likewise, the existence of obsolete pesticides
is a challenge for Latin America: stocks are calculated
at about 11,000 tons of obsolete pesticides, often
deficiently stored, which expose people to their
damaging effects and represent a significant risk to
soil and water. (ECLAC, 2010)
Another concern is the final disposal of dangerous
waste. In many developing countries this is mixed
with municipal waste or domestic waste and are spilt
or burnt in the open air without any kind of previous
treatment. (UN-Habitat 2010).
It is estimated that in Europe, the United States and
the Russian Federation alone there are two million
sites suffering from chemical substances
contamination. Data from developing countries or
transitional economies is more difficult to obtain
(UNEP, 2012b). The Blacksmith Institute, which is
devoted to monitoring and restoring toxic sites, is
currently monitoring some 3,098 highly contaminated
sites in low and medium income countries. According
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             8
to their data, this is likely affecting the health of 84
million people.. (Blacksmith, 2014)
The GEO5 cites different Climate Change studies
looking at effects of a rise in temperature on POP
degradation or other highly polluting substances
and concludes these effects are unclear. It does
warn nonetheless that these substances have been
accumulating for decades on ice and when this ice
melts there will likely be an increase in POP and
other pollutants quantities circulating in the
environment. (UNEP, 2012b)
As previously stated, chemical pollution has serious
health consequences. Data presented by the
Blacksmith Institute is compelling: pollution from
chemical substances kills 10 million people a year,
which translates as three times the number of
deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, malaria and
tuberculosis put together. In the developing world,
this is the first cause of death. (Blacksmith, 2014)
Despite the lack of information and under-
recording, a study by the World Health
Organization (WHO) was presented at the 3rd
International Conference on Chemicals
Management (ICCM3). Although only a limited
number of substances were taken into
consideration, it revealed that in 2004 4.9 million
deaths were caused by chemical pollution (8.3% of
total deaths); and 86 million lost Disability-Adjusted
Life Years (DALYs)1. (ICCM3, 2012) Estimates
suggest 71% of non-intentional poisonings
registered in 2004 could have been prevented with
relatively simple safety measures, which could
have saved 240,000 lives and 5 million DALYs.
(Prüss-Ustün et ál. 2011).
Figure 2: Distribution of disease burden attributable to Chemicals
(in DALYs)
Source: Prüss-Ustün et ál. 2011
 
                                                            
1
DALYs is a weighted measure that estimates the life years lost
due to early death and years of life with disability. One DALY
equals one lost healthy life year.
Even though chemical pollution is a global problem, in known, diseases or accidents related to
many cases it is possible to achieve significant occupational exposure to chemicals is generally
improvements in quality of life and environmental rarely recorded. Even though under-recording and
health by means of local relatively accessible lack of information is a worldwide problem, informal
measures and controls. For example, the costs of work and lack of health coverage are amongst the
 
removing and treating lead contaminated soil between reasons why this problem is especially noticeable in
2007 and 2010 in Bajos de Haina (Dominican many developing countries. (ILO, 2013a)  Certain
Republic, one of the most polluted sites in the world) groups (such as those in the informal economy,
was estimated at USD 404,000, and achieved domestic workers, immigrant workers, etc.)
substantial improvements in different environmental encounter significant barriers to reporting
and human health indicators. (UNEP, 2013) (Sustainlabour 2013).

According to the WHO, lead exposure produces some It is estimated that exposure to chemicals plays,
143,000 deaths a year. Each year, children’s either directly or indirectly, a very important role in
exposure to lead causes 600,000 new cases of the more than the 3.34 million fatalities related to
intellectual impairment. (WHO, 2013b) Considering work, and the 160 million non-fatal occupational
only those children younger than 5 years old and diseases that are registered every year. This
exposed to lead in Latin America, the Global corresponds to over 6,000 deaths every single day.
Chemicals Outlook estimates that the cost derived (ILO, 2013b)
from the loss of DALYs is USD 550 million, and a loss
of USD 28 billion in economic productivity for the Workers from all sectors are exposed to hazardous
region. (UNEP, 2013) chemicals at their workplaces. Workers in areas
where chemical use is rapidly increasing are at
550 million, and a loss of USD 28 billion in economic productivity for the region. (UNEP, 2013) particular risk of exposure; these areas include
Chart 1: Loss of productivity as a consequence of lead effects on children´s under five electronics, textiles, construction, cleaning,
years old IQ. Africa, Latin America and South East Asia
maintenance, hairdressing, and agriculture.

Many of the substances that workers are exposed

to in the workplace are considered carcinogenic.
The WHO estimates that cancer attributable to
Fuente: Global Chemicals Outlook (GCO). 2013
occupational exposure fluctuates between 4 and
40% of the global cancer burden and causes next
c. Risks for workers’ health to 200,000 deaths a year (WHO 2007). It is
estimated that occupational exposures to asbestos,
Workers are among those most exposed to chemical silica and metal fumes, are responsible for 9% of
risks. Besides environmental and domestic exposure, lung, trachea and bronchus cancer. (PAHO, 2014)
millions of workers are exposed to different chemicals
in their workplaces every day. The risk is higher for Among the non-communicable diseases, cancer is
chemical industry workers and also for those people the second cause of death in the Americas.
working in diverse sectors along the production chain The International Agency for Research on Cancer
where these substances are used. These include (IARC/WHO) has identified at least 15 lung
agriculture, construction, commerce, carpentry, carcinogens where occupational exposure plays a
cleaning, painting, automotive, textile and IT fundamental role. The ILO ranks occupational
industries, among others. Estimates suggest around cancer as the top work related cause of death
30,000 different chemicals (from the roughly 150,000 worldwide, accounting for some 760,000 fatalities
existing in the market) are used in workplaces each year. This is almost a third of all deaths linked
worldwide. However, barely 1 in 100 has been to workplace factors, and is higher than circulatory
thoroughly tested for health and environmental disease, infections or accidents. Lung cancer and
effects. (Sustainlabour, 2013)Exposure to chemicals mesothelioma account for 50% of these fatalities.
is an important cause of work related mortality (Sustainlabour 2013)
worldwide. Nevertheless, it is difficult to measure the
reach of effects on health, due to, among other Painting and rubber production are among those
reasons, the lack of information about possible effects sectors with the greatest risk of cancer by
and the time gap from exposure to appearance of occupational exposure. (PAHO, 2014)
effects. Besides, even in cases where effects are

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             9
The use of pesticides is also one of the main causes
of occupational accidents and diseases. Calculations
place 3% of agricultural workers as suffering from
acute intoxication episodes from pesticides every
year. (UNEP, 2012b)
 
Cancer, neurological, endocrine, respiratory, renal
system or reproduction disorders are some of the
health problems associated with occupational
exposure to pesticides. These estimates do not
include farm workers' children who are severely
affected by pesticide exposure. Newborns diagnosed
with cryptorchidism and/or hypospadias and other
malformations have been commonly found in
intensive agricultural areas (Sustainlabour 2013)
Exposure to hazardous chemicals during waste
treatment and mixing, such as in crystalline silica
products, has also been identified as emerging risks.
(Sustainlabour 2013)
Deficits in health and occupational safety issues in
Latin America are significant, where work is
characterised by high levels of informality and
precariousness,. Under a general framework of
growth and greater integration, the region has started
to address this outstanding matter. It is slowly moving
up the political agendas of governments, companies
and trade unions. (OISS, 2013)
At the time of writing of this report, the new
Iberoamerican Strategy for Occupational Health and
Safety, drawn up by the Iberoamerican Social
Security Organization (OISS in Spanish) is receiving
feedback from relevant stakeholders. The strategy
could present an opportunity to develop a shared
diagnosis on the situation and agree a global work
plan among governments, trade unions and
employers’ organizations. Nevertheless, participating
trade unions report that the subject of chemical risk is
currently absent from the strategy2. The chemical
issue should be explicit; the lack of information and
knowledge on possible effects can lead to serious
risks for the health and safety of workers.
Furthermore, most Latin American countries have
already committed themselves to advance on these
issues.
2
Interview with the Occupational Health and Safety
Officer at the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA),
on August 19, 2014
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             10
d. Chemicals’ Management
Chemical production and use contributes to
economic development and better living conditions.
However, if adequate management and control is
not in place, then water, soil and air contamination
from toxic chemicals constitutes a great risk, which
can also carry high economic and social costs. This
is a worldwide problem, and hence solutions need
to come from an integral approach with actions
implemented at local, regional and global levels.
In the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation3,
countries reaffirmed their commitment to the sound
use of chemicals throughout the whole life cycle to
contribute to sustainable development and
protecting human health and the environment.
Notably, the international community committed
itself to “by 2020, chemicals should be produced
and used in ways that lead to the minimization of
significant adverse effects on human health and the
environment”. (Chapter 3, paragraph 23)
In February 2006 in Dubai, the International
Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM)
adopted the Strategic Approach to International
Chemicals Management (SAICM), which aimed to
fulfill the goals set out in Johannesburg Plan.
SAICM was proposed as an international
framework system that would allow for
improvements and integration and also to take
advantage of synergies derived from implementing
the diverse existing international instruments for the
management of chemicals. These are, among other
instruments and international agreements the
Basel Convention, which deals with transboundary
movements of hazardous waste; the Rotterdam
Convention, which explains the procedure for Prior
Informed Consent for international commerce of
certain hazardous chemicals; the Stockholm
Convention, which covers Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POP); the Montreal Protocol, which
defines Ozone depleting substances; the Globally
Harmonized System (GHS); and the Pollutant
Release and Transfers Registers (PRTRs).
To assist with SAICM’s implementation, the Quick
Start Programme (QSP) was established. Its main
goal is to support the developing or strengthening
of capacities in developing countries and
transitional economies through projects of national
3
Approved in 2002 in the context of United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+10
and regional reach. So far, and with the support of the
QSP’s Trust Fund, 147 projects have been
implemented in more than 100 countries. In Latin
America the QSP has supported 44 projects (35 of
these were nationwide projects, and 9 were regional).
 
(QSP, 2014)Information collected by SAICM during
2009 and 2010 shows that significant progress has
been made in Latin American and the Caribbean in
the last decade. This is especially true in governance
and capacity building. Most countries have ratified the
different international instruments and many have
made progress on setting out national plans and
policies for the sound management of chemicals. In
comparison with the rest of the world, the region has
the highest percentage of countries that have
established a national committee to coordinate
SAICM’s implementation. (SAICM, 2014)

Nonetheless, serious deficiencies persist. In particular

there are in general important institutional
weaknesses regarding the implementation of
commitments and the effective compliance of
regulations. Most countries in the region do not have
legislation to regulate hazardous waste management
and do not yet have regulations on labelling chemical
components. Many countries are currently carrying
out projects to improve these capacities; these are
expected to finish before the 4th International
Conference on Chemicals Management in 2015.
When social and working conditions are precarious
and when environmental controls are lax, the safe
management of chemicals is critical to improving
quality of life and to reducing environmental
degradation. In addition, these conditions often
contribute to the regulation of the chemical safety
agenda and to prioritisation of approaches oriented
towards economic growth as a way of generating jobs
and wealth. However, this approach doesn't take into
account the quality of those jobs and the
consequences on occupational, public or
environmental health.

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             11

Workers’ Contribution to SAICM
3.
Implementation in Latin America  
a. Sustainlabour: Working Side
by Side with Workers to
Reduce Chemical Risk
Since its establishment, SAICM’s Strategic Approach
has highlighted the importance of involving different
stakeholders to achieve sound chemical management
and to make progress on the 2020 Johannesburg goal.
In addition to the organisations linked to the chemical
industry and academic sectors, many international
networks of NGOs and trade unions1 have contributed
and followed the different international processes.
At a national level there are also dialogue mechanisms
with the different stakeholders aimed at implementing
chemical plans and policies. The degree and scope of
participation greatly fluctuates depending on national
situations, traditions surrounding dialogue and the
capacities or levels of organisation of the different
social groups. In many cases, particularly in many
Latin American countries, NGOs and social
organisations continue to find difficulties to access the
necessary information so that they can intervene
appropriately in these processes. (ECLAC,
2010)Among the different organisations in civil society,
worker organizations have a unique possibility of
taking direct action to make progress in safe chemical
management at the workplace. , They also have an
important role to play at the local and national policy
level.
Sustainlabour (The International Labour Foundation
for Sustainable Development)2 was founded in 2003
by unions from different countries with the general
objective of providing support and technical assistance
on environmental issues to trade unions worldwide,
and especially to workers´ organisations in developing
countries. Sustainlabour works in collaboration with
other non-governmental organizations and research
                                                            
1 show the project reach. The results of both are
At the international level the trade union movement has
actively participated in the development of SAICM. The International
Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has been involved in the
negotiation process from the beginning by participating and giving
inputs at the different SAICM “PrepCom” meetings.
2
More information at http://www.sustainlabour.org
              Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               12
centres in different countries, along with
intergovernmental organisms like UNEP and ILO.
Through the years, Sustainlabour has carried out
programmes and projects that have reached trade
unionists from almost 100 different countries. The
organisation has dealt with subjects such as
climate change, chemical management,
biodiversity, green jobs, and others. The projects
have received financial support from different UN
bodies, cooperation agencies from different
countries, and trade union cooperation funds.
Since its foundation, Sustainlabour has worked on
chemical risk issues by giving support to the trade
union movement in various ways. It has supported
union delegate participation in international
meetings on chemicals, e.g. SAICM, the
Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety
(IFCS), and the International Conference on
Chemicals Management (ICCM). It has also worked
at the national level by carrying out awareness
raising campaigns among workers and the general
public; promoting and facilitating dialog with
governments, employers and social organizations;
providing tools for trade union action; implementing
demonstrative projects; etc.
Between 2008 and 2013 Sustainlabour drove two
projects, in Latin American countries both of which
spanned 2 years. Financial support came from the
QSP Trust Fund. Both projects were oriented to
unions and workers, and the general objective was
to improve workers’ and unions’ capacity to
contribute to the sound management of chemicals.
This included consolidating dialog with other
parties; identifying capacities and needs; training
on security issues and management of chemicals;
mainstreaming labour issues into the agenda of
chemicals and vice versa; etc. The following tables
give an overview of each project and give figures to
analyzed in detail in section 4. 
Chart 2: “Enabling workers and workplaces for SAICM implementation” 

Project timeframe October 2008 - September 2010 

Geographical reach Brazil, Chile, Uruguay 
Involved sectors Mining Industry, Chemical Industry, paper production, agriculture,
petroleum, pesticide manufacturing, plastic industry, salmon
farming, rubber production, metallurgy, etc. 
Direct beneficiaries 683 people (30% women) in face to face activities 
Reach More than 35,000 recipients of outreach materials, campaign,
training guides via web (25,000) and printed (11,000). 
Reached 72 trade unions (9 million affiliated workers) 
organizations
 

This first project, approved in the 3rd QSP round of projects, was awarded as “Most
Outstanding civil society QSP project in Latin America” at the 4th regional meeting of
SAICM, carried out in Mexico in August 20131. The second Project was approved in the 10th
QSP round of projects; the proposal was based on the results and lessons learned of the first
project, adapting it to the Central American and Caribbean context. 

Chart 3: “Promoting sound chemicals´ management through strengthening trade

unions’ capacities” 

Project timeframe August 2011 - September 2013 

Geographical reach El Salvador, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic 
Involved sectors Mining, agriculture, water and sanitation, domestic workers,
petroleum, metallurgy, public servants, ports and airports personnel,
health, waste collectors, maquilas, etc. 
Direct beneficiaries 689 people (30% women) in face to face activities 
Reach About 30,000 recipients of outreach materials, campaigns, training
guides, via web (20,000) and paper (9,000). More than 1 million of
recipients in printed press media (150,000) and radio (1 million). 
Reached 53 Trade unions (650,000 affiliated workers)
organizations
 

                                                            
1
More information at http://www.saicm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=481&catid=9

b. Projects’ Geographical
Reach: Regional
Heterogeneity
The countries involved in both Projects presented
great heterogeneity. Social and economic situations
were diverse, and the same was true for chemicals
management capacity. Likewise, institutions and civil
societies had differing capacities to contribute to
these processes
Socioeconomic context
The first project, which included Brazil, Chile and
Uruguay, was carried out in a regional with strong
articulation (mainly through Mercosur) and countries
that, although they had their differences, have
consolidated democracies, an active and thriving civil
society, more or less stable economies, and a
growing political and/or economic weight in the
Brazil, with a population of 200 million (85%
urbanized) and the biggest Latin American territory, is
one of the emergent global powers. Its economy is
one of the greatest in the world, with a gross
domestic product (GDP) that places it in the 5th place.
(World Bank, 2014) Great progress has been made in
terms of social inclusion in the last 20 years, mainly
because of the implementation of very active policies
dealing with poverty and income distribution. In 20
years Brazil went from poverty indexes of 43.4% to
18.6%. (ECLAC, 2014)
Despite this progress, there are still very important
challenges to overcome. Although Brazil's economy is
ranked 5th in the world, it is in 79th place in the HDI
ranking and it is among the most unequal in terms of
income (UNDP, 2014) (World Bank, 2014). Regarding
working conditions, 5.9% of workers live below the
poverty line (UNDP, 2014), and the unreported
employment rate is estimated to be 51% (ILO, 2013).
The labour force covered by the National Institute of
Social Security (INSS, in Portuguese) barely reaches
30% (MTE, 2014)
Chile and Uruguay are relatively small countries in
terms of territory and population. They have 17.5 and
3.4 million inhabitants respectively and urbanization
levels are around 90%. Even though their economies
are smaller than Brazil's, they have nevertheless
have a 40% greater per capita GDP, which is
comparable to countries like Portugal. Although they
Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          13
have important outstanding social challenges, Chile
and Uruguay are among those countries considered
to have a high level of development in terms of HDI,
ranking 41st and 50th at a global level respectively.
(UNDP, 2014)Poverty levels in Chile stand at 11%
while in Uruguay they are 5.9% (ECLAC, 2014).
Income inequality in Chile is similar to Brazil’s, and
ranks 52 places below Uruguay in the Gini equality
ranking. (World Bank, 2014) The unemployment
rate in both countries is around 6%, with informality
close to 40% and labour force health coverage is
above 90%. (UNDP, 2014) (ECLAC, 2014)
The second project was carried out in a region that
generally faces greater social difficulties and
important institutional weaknesses. With a high
population density and urbanization levels between
60 and 65%, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the
Dominican Republic generally present social
indicators that are below those in the Southern
Cone of Latin America. The three countries are
among the medium-developed countries according
to the HDI ranking. (PNUD, 2014)
In El Salvador, figures are telling: there is an
official unemployment rate of about 6%, yet more
than 70% of workers are found in the informal
sector. The poverty rate is around 45% and 12 out
of every 100 Salvadorans live in extreme poverty.
(ECLAC, 2014) In December 2011, workers
covered by the Salvadorian Institute of Social
Security (ISSS, in Spanish) barely reached 24%.
(Sustainlabour, 2012a)The poverty rate in
Nicaragua is the highest of the region at 58.3%;
this is particularly serious in rural areas (65%).
Statistics indicate that 29 out of every 100
Nicaraguans are indigent. (ECLAC, 2014) The
unemployment rate is around 10% (UNDP, 2014),
and registered workers do not exceed 35% of the
working population. The Nicaraguan Institute of
Social Security (INSS) covered only 20% of workers
in 20111.
In the Dominican Republic, statistics show levels
of unemployment at 15% and 25.5% for the under
30s population. However, 41 out of every 100
Dominicans are living below the poverty line.
Likewise, 58% of workers are unregistered
(ECLAC, 2014); and only 35% of workers have any
kind of protection against labour contingencies
(Sustainlabour, 2012c).
                                                            
1
Central Bank of Nicaragua, 2012
Use and regulation of chemicals
The use and regulation of chemicals is highly diverse.
There are countries such as Brazil and Chile that are
important worldwide producers and occupy ranks 4
and 20 respectively in sales (UNEP, 2013). Then
there are countries that are fundamentally users in
different sectors. The agricultural sector especially
stands out among them. Other sectors where
chemicals are used and manipulated are, for
example, textile industry, paper, mining, health,
transport, cleaning, and tannery.
In Brazil, the chemical industry is responsible for
around 3% of the national GDP and 11% of billing for
all industries based in Brazil. This positions the
country in 4th place in global rankings. The greatest
share is made up of chemical products and plastics
factories and around 95% of them are smaller scale
and are concentrated in the south of the country.
(Sustainlabour, 2009a)
The country boasts a wide legislation, along with a
number of plans and programs which deal with
chemical management. It has signed and ratified the
International Conventions regarding this subject2 and
signed most of the ILO’s regulations on Chemicals
and Occupational Health and Safety issues3. It also
has several participation mechanisms with
representation from different stakeholders, including
workers, like the National Commission on Chemical
Safety - CONASQ, the Commission for Sustainable
Development Policy (CPDS), and several tripartite
and bipartite bodies. CONSAQ had been inactive for
three years when Sustainlabour carried out the
project
Over the last few decades in Chile, the economy has
grown in line with an increase in the use of hazardous
substances, and this is for both volume and variety. In
addition to the chemical industry, there are a number
2
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POP); Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent
Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in
International Trade; Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their
Disposal.
3 Montreal Protocol, dealing with Ozone depleting substances;
C115: for the Protection of Workers against Ionizing
Radiations; C120: Hygiene (Commerce and Offices) Convention;
C139: Occupational Cancer Convention; C148: Working
Environment (Air Pollution, Noise and Vibration) Convention; C155:
Occupational Safety and Health Convention; C161: Occupational
Health Services Convention; C162: for Safety in the Use of
Asbestos; C167: for Safety and Health in Construction; C170 for
Safety in the use of Chemicals at Work; C174: for the Prevention of
Major Industrial Accidents; C176: for Safety and Health in Mines
Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          14
of companies that make intensive use of chemicals
such as oil refineries, copper mining and iron and
steel, paper and cellulose, petrochemical industries,
etc. Today Chile holds the 21st place in the ranking
of countries with highest sales of chemicals.
(UNEP, 2013)Following on from this significant
increase in the use of different types of chemicals,
Chile set out its “National Policy on Chemical
Safety” (PNSQ in Spanish) in 2008. Its main aims
are to give coherence to a set of regulations of
different hierarchies that regulate specific issues on
hazardous substances, and also provide solutions
to the superposition of roles in the different
institutions that are competent in this area (PNSQ,
2008). The PNSQ was set up by the National
Commission on the Environment (CONAMA),
where different governmental organizations and
civil society come together. It should be mentioned
that at the beginning of the project trade unions
were not included in the CONAMA. (Sustainlabour,
2009b)
At the same time, different initiatives were being
carried out in the SAICM framework Among them
was an updating project for the National Profile on
Chemical Management (Perfil Nacional Sobre la
Gestión de las Sustancias Químicas), which was
supported by UNITAR; and a campaign to minimize
domestic sources of mercury, as part of a regional
project implemented by the Doctors’ Association for
the Environment (AMMA) and supported by the
QSP Trust Fund. (Jara, 2009)Of note is that Chile is
a signatory to numerous environmental
agreements, and also to international agreements
and conventions on chemical management4.
Nevertheless, at the time of undertaking the project,
only 3 out of the 13 ILO Conventions on different
aspects linked to Occupational Health and Safety
and chemicals had been ratified5. (Sustainlabour,
2009b) In 2014 the Convention on the promotional
framework for occupational safety and health
(C.187), was ratified.
                                                            
4
London guidelines for the exchange of information on
chemicals in international trade; Vienne Convention and its
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP);
Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure
for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International
Trade; Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
5
C115: for the Protection of Workers against Ionizing
Radiations; C161: Occupational Health Services Convention;
C162: for Safety in the Use of Asbestos.
El Salvador uses chemical products in different
sectors of its economy, With regard to GDP, a high
share of chemical use is in the manufacturing industry
(26%, and half of that corresponding to maquilas) and
in agriculture (13%). (Sustainlabour, 2012a)Data
collected through the First Central American Survey
on Working Conditions and Health, which was carried
out in 2011, show that in El Salvador around 19% of
men and 11% of women state they have been directly
exposed to chemical substances in their workplaces,
and 52% of them without any kind of personal
protection equipment. (OISS, 2012) One of the main
problems is the massive use of pesticides, more often
than not dispensed by aerial fumigation. Another of
the most affected sectors is the one of the maquila,
particularly the textile sector. Since 2012, the “Día
Nacional de la Trabajadora de la Maquila” (National
day of Maquila workers) is commemorated, and is in
memory of more than 200 women workers who
suffered chlorine intoxication in a textile maquila in
the free trade zone of Olocuilta in 2001.
(Sustainlabour, 2012a)
The country has abundant regulatory instruments and
has ratified most of the international agreements6 on
chemical management. However, there are important
weaknesses that must be overcome. Some of the
main problems, and which are not exclusive to the
chemical issue, are the low compliance with
regulations, and the weakness of public institutions
responsible for surveillance, control and sanctions.
The country also has multi-sectoral spaces such as
the Chemical Safety Commission (COSEQUI) and
tripartite bodies like the National Commission for
Occupational Health (CONASO). At the time of
undertaking Sustainlabour’s Project, both
commissions operated irregularly. (Sustainlabour,
2012a)
In Nicaragua, the increase in use of industrial
chemicals in the mining sector and in free trade
zones - two sectors which have considerably grown
                                                            
6
National Profile to Assess the National Infrastructure on
Chemical Management (2006); National Policy on the Environment
(2004, reviewed 2011); Rotterdam Convention on the Prior
Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and
Pesticides in International Trade; Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP);Basel Convention on the
Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
Their Disposal; Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol,
dealing with Ozone depleting substances; Intergovernmental
Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS); ILO C155 concerning the
Safety and Health of workers; among others.  into national policy and planning processes.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          15
recently - is a major cause for concern. Just like in
El Salvador, the pesticide pollution situation is
alarming: according to data from the Ministry of
Health, each year about 1,500 cases of acute
pesticide poisoning are reported, which represents
160 deaths and numerous chronic illnesses
(MINSA, 2004a). Chronic kidney insufficiency, a
disease linked directly to the exposure of
agrochemicals is devastating the whole region, and
has caused more than ten thousand deaths in
Nicaragua in 2010. (Sustainlabour, 2012b) (PAHO,
2014)
Through the First Central American Survey on
Working Conditions and Health it was found that
almost half of the labour force in Nicaragua is
exposed to, or manipulates chemicals in the
workplace. According to this survey, 42% of
workers do not have any kind of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect themselves
against occupational risks. (OISS, 2012)
In 2010 a second edition of the National Profile
“Evaluation of the National Infrastructure for
Management of Chemical Substances” was
released, and included fully validated conclusions
and recommendations.. Aside from pointing out the
lack of technical, human and financial resources as
the main limitation, this document also specifically
mentions the “insufficient unions’ presence and
work on the subject”, as well as the “need to give
life to tripartite bodies – composed of trade unions,
employer organizations and government- so as to
agree on preventive policies”.
In the Dominican Republic, the chemical exposure
situation is also an issue of great concern.
According to data from the Human Development
Report from 2008, 66% of the population
acknowledges they live near some source of
environmental pollution. The use of pesticides in the
agricultural sector; the use of mercury, mainly in
artisanal gold mining; water and soil pollution by
leaching, black water spillways; etc. are some of the
main causes for concern.
The “National Profile for Management of
Chemicals” has been in operation since 2013 and is
an initiative that looks at, among other things:
promoting inter-ministerial coordination, facilitating
access and exchange of information, establishing
priorities, promoting participation of all interested
parties (trade unions’ organizations included), and
integrating the chemical management programs
In addition to the National Profile, there are a large
number of regulatory instruments and most of the
international instruments have been ratified7.
However, there are still weaknesses and deficiencies
to overcome in order to meet the objective of a safe
management of chemicals. One of the main
challenges is improving the technical and operative
capacities of the bodies responsible for ensuring
compliance. Turning to Uruguay, since WWII
imported items have been substituted by processing
industries, which include chemical products factories,
as well as other activities where chemical products
are used increasingly such as like paper plants,
rubber, tannery, textile, graphic and iron and steel
industries.
Uruguay has many regulations on different aspects of
chemical management, for example Decree Nº
307/09, on “Protection of the Health and Safety of
Workers against Risks related to Chemicals during
Work”: This decree establishes principles and
measures for workers’ health protection, dispositions
on information and training, and the participation and
consultation of workers on matters regarding
chemical risk in the workplace. It also establishes
regulations for labelling and safety cards for
chemicals.
In a survey on working conditions, carried out in
2013, it is nonetheless surprising that there were a
small amount of survey respondents that
acknowledged being exposed to chemical risks in
their workplace. According to this survey, out of those
who acknowledged exposure,14% claimed not to
know the possible health effects of chemical
exposure. If only agricultural, stockbreeding, fishing
and mining sectors are considered then the figure is
22.6%. Approximately 1 out of every 2 workers has
protection equipment available. The remaining
workers fall into two categories: absence of
                                                            
7 Hazardous Waste; IFCS Bahia Declaration; Rotterdam
National Profile to Assess the National Infrastructure on
Chemical Management (2006); National Policy on the
Environment (2004, review 2011); Rotterdam Convention on the
Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade Stockholm
Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP); Basel
Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of
Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; Vienna Convention and its
Montreal Protocol, dealing with Ozone depleting substances;
Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS); ILO C155
Occupational Safety and Health Convention; ILO C170 concerning
Safety in the use of Chemicals at Work; among others.  Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. Ratified
Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          16
equipment (16.30%) and ignorance of its existence
(33.70%). (Martínez, 2013)
In addition to Sustainlabour’s Project, in 2009 three
other projects were being carried out under SAICM:
a) Minimization of domestic Mercury sources - a
regional civil society initiative supported by the
QSP; b) Sound management of products containing
mercury - a nationalwide initiative, supported by
UNIDO; and c) “Classification and Labelling of
Chemicals System”, another nationwide initiative
supported by UNITAR/ILO.
Furthermore, Uruguay is signatory to most of the
international Environmental Agreements, as well as
agreements and Conventions regarding chemical
management8 and ILO Conventions regarding
different aspects of Occupational Health and
Safety9. In 2014, the Convention on safety and
health in mines (C176) was added to the list.
Health and safety: chemical risk at
work
Despite the different economic and social situations
in the six countries, there are great challenges
regarding occupational health and safety. The first
difficulty is the lack of a registry, which is due to, in
great measure, the low coverage of health
protection systems for workers. In many cases,
there is also a shortage of economic or human
resources to carry out appropriate controls in
companies. Generally, the subject has until recently
been completely absent from political and social
agendas, and is something that has begun to slowly
change in the last few years. (OISS, 2013)
In Brazil, the Ministry of Labour and Employment
(MTE) reports almost 400,000 accidents at work
8
General Law on Environment and Natural Resources;
Regulations for the Management of Chemical Substances and
Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain
Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade;
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP);
ILO C170 concerning Safety in the use of Chemicals at Work;
Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements
of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal; Pollutant Release and
Transfers Registers (PRTRs).
9
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POP). Ratified (2004); Rotterdam Convention on the
Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade. Ratified
(2003); Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
(1991).
every year. However it acknowledges that their
statistics significant underestimate this since they
only reflect accidents involving the population which
is covered by the Social Security System (INSS).
(MTE, 2012). Regarding non-intentional intoxication
with agrochemicals, a study of the Bahia Federal
University (UFB) registered a total of 1,669 deaths
between 2000 and 2008. The study draws attention
towards the levels of under-reporting in the sector
that might reach as high as 91.6%. (UFB, 2012).
Extrapolating to the entire labour force, the MTE
estimates that occupational health could cost
between 2% and 4% of GDP. (MTE, 2012)
In addition to the lack of coverage and unreported
accidents, the real causes of accidents are hidden: in
many cases where the employer is accountable or
where the precariousness of working conditions could
be revealed, accidents are reported as transport
accidents or the reports are filed incorrectly. (UFB,
2011).
According to data from insurance companies, in Chile
more than 85% of workers are covered by insurance
systems (Government of Chile, 2012) (World Bank,
2014). The companies have been obliged to report
any occupational accidents and diseases since 2007.
Based on these reports, official statistics indicated
that in 2011 more than 225,000 workers suffered
accidents in their workplaces (Zaldívar, 2013).
However, report forms do not require the cause to be
specified and, in fact, a very low percentage of
accidents are specified (Urzúa, 2010). Available
information shows that 4.5% of deaths in the
workplace and 10% of serious accidents are due to
toxic gas inhalation. (Chilean Government, 2012)
Between 2000 and 2004, an average of 828
accidents at work a year was registered in El
Salvador, although the Ministry of Labour does not
include causes in the registry. Despite little or no
information being available on the number of
accidents or diseases attributable to hazardous
substances in the workplace, the fact that 20% of
workers acknowledge working in direct contact with
chemicals, and most them without protective
equipment, suggests that many of the occupational
accidents and diseases are related to this
circumstance.
The Ministry of Labour's resources to monitor
company compliance with preventive obligations are
quite insufficient: there are 74 labour inspectors, of
which only five are specialized in occupational health.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          17
The creation of Bipartite Health and Safety
Committees at workplaces as a result of the Law on
Prevention of Occupational Risks (approved in
2012) presents an opportunity for improvement. As
the project was finishing, almost 4,500 of the 6,000
companies prescribed by Law were creating their
Health and Safety Committees.
As noted, most workers in Nicaragua lack social
and health related protection at work and there isn’t
any kind of preventive action directed towards
working conditions. This includes chemical risk
exposure.
Considering only workers covered by the Social
Security Institute, almost 30,000 accidents at work
and more than 500 occupational diseases were
registered in 2011. This figure is highly
underestimated, as only 20% of registered workers
are covered. All other formal and informal workers'
data is left out. Data does not identify accidents or
diseases related to chemical exposure. Of particular
importance, data doesn't include rural workers, who
are probably among the most exposed to chemical
risks at work.
The labour administration is endeavouring to
promote more active and inclusive occupational
health policies. However their resources are very
scarce: the Ministry of Labour only has 31
specialized inspectors in occupational health and
safety, which is a ratio of 1 inspector for every
34,000 workers.
In the Dominican Republic, and according to data
from the Ministry of Labour, a 20% increase of total
accidents at work is registered each year. However,
it is estimated that only half of the total accidents
are reported and registered. In the case of
occupational diseases, under-reporting may reach
90%. (Sustainlabour, 2012c)
Even though the country's occupational health
regulatory framework is extensive,, there is a low
level of compliance by companies and a low
capacity for action from the Ministry of Labour. Out
of 200 labour inspectors, only 13 are specialised,
which translates as 1 inspector in every 20,000
workers. (Sustainlabour, 2012c)
In Uruguay, the majority of the working population
is covered by the Banco de Seguro del Estado
(BSE). In 2013 some 54,000 accidents at work
were registered, and this figure has been more or
less stable since 2011. It represents about 10% of
insured workers (INE,2013). According to data
compiled by the OISS, 53 of those accidents resulted
in the death of the worker and 524 in permanent
disability. (OISS, 2012a)
The first Survey on working conditions in Uruguay
concluded that 6.6% of the surveyed working
population suffered some kind of accident that
required medical assistance or treatment between
2010 and 2012. 16% have been diagnosed with some
kind of occupational disease. This survey reveals,
among other data, that 35% of workers believe that
their health is at risk in some measure from the work
activity they perform. Different reasons are given but
include the possibility of accidents happening and
exposure to hazardous substances. (Martínez, 2013).
Time to fight against Environmental
Pollution
In all six countries have registered heartbreaking
cases of environmental pollution entailing grave
consequences. Not only have ecosystems' health
been seriously affected but also the health of entire
communities.
This not only represents a human rights violation and
a social and environmental injustice. As noted above,
the region has to bear these serious social costs and
significant loss of productivity as a consequence of
chemical pollution. (UNEP, 2013).
The following are examples of this and they are: lead
contamination in “La Teja” neighbourhood in
Montevideo, “El Niño” in San Salvador, and “Bajos de
Haina” in the Dominican Republic.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          18
Box 1: three emblematic cases of lead
pollution. Uruguay, Dominican Republic
and El Salvador. 
La Teja – Montevideo: In January 2001 the
first cases of children being contaminated by
lead were detected in La Teja
neighbourhood. The affected families lived
mostly in settlements where metallurgic
plants used to work and where waste
terrains were filled (Burguer, 2010). The
families began being reallocating in 2002
and since then different control and
monitoring measures have been
implemented. In early 2012 some 90 court
claims against the State were filed by
affected neighbours, for US$ 90 million10. 
“El Niño”, El Salvador: The site was
contaminated by heavy metals, and
especially by lead. A battery factory had
been set up there, that leaked many types of
waste and heavy metals for years. Currently
the place is classified as uninhabitable and
lead contamination has been detected in 247
children. The population has had to be
reallocated from the zone. The State gave
support, housing and health services.
(Sustainlabour, 2012a). 
Bajos de Haina, Dominican Republic:
Haina is a community situated near an
abandoned plant that used to recycle lead
acid batteries. Studies carried out in 1997
showed that more than 90% of the
population (30,000 people) had higher than
tolerable levels of lead in their blood11. At
least 28% of the children needed urgent
treatment and more than 5% of the children
presented severe and irreversible
neurological damage. The families were
reallocated. Nowadays this site has been
recovered and a public park is being built.
(Blacksmith Institute, 2014). 
10
EL País, August 17th 2014. “El plomo dejó su
herencia maldita”. http://www.elpais.com.uy/informacion/plomo-
dejo-herencia-maldita-jovenes.html
11
Levels higher than 70 µg/dl were found.
Another matter of great concern is superficial and resoundingly dropped and left more than 20,000
underground water pollution from pesticides, workers jobless), but they also seriously impacted
particularly in rural populations with a low level of marine ecosystems, and compromised the
drinking water coverage, and where homes generally livelihood of entire communities of artisanal fishers.
collect water from wells. Exposure to pesticides
constitutes a serious health risk, and among other
illnesses, chronic kidney diseases and renal failure
are noted as a cause of death (WHO, 2013a)

From 2002 to 2012, estimates suggest there have

been more than 24,000 deaths from chronic renal
failure in the Central American Pacific region, most of
them in Nicaragua and El Salvador (Sustainlabour,
2012b). In the last few years local and sanitary
authorities in El Salvador have been reporting the
multiplication of deaths caused by renal failure,
especially in sites closer to where aerial fumigations
are carried out and where obsolete pesticides are
stored12. According to data from the WHO, 6 out of
every 10,000 people died in El Salvador due to renal
failure in 2009, and that was even before the current
crisis. The gravity of the situation in Nicaragua follows
closely; figures went from 466 annual deaths from
chronic renal failure in 2000 to 1,047 in 2010. (PAHO,
2014)

In Brazil, mercury pollution in Amazonian areas as a

consequence of gold mining continues to be one of
the main causes of pollution. This is mainly by
artisanal and small scale mining, affects water, fish
and riverside communities. It also constitutes an
important pollution factor in the great industrial hubs
in the south of the country, fundamentally from
atmosphere emissions.

Although figures are significantly underestimated,

Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment registers
accidents involving chemical substances. In its
“environmental emergencies” web-site, and only for
2010, it reports 900 chemical accidents. Of those,
600 are likely to have happened in the transportation
stage in roads, and a 100 in the industry.

In Chile, which is the second greatest salmon

producer worldwide, the incorrect use of different
chemical substances to control sanitation in salmon
farming in the south of the country resulted in serious
marine pollution problems in 2008. Not only did these
chemicals affect salmon production (which
                                                            
12
Public complaints by the local authorities of San Luis
Tapia at national media and at the National Conference on
Chemical Risks (August, 2013). Reports and interventions by the
Ministry of Health.
 

Sound management of chemicals: key to improve workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America          19

c. Different strategies for
different contexts
Although
  the projects had similar objectives and
formats, they were carried out in very different
contexts. These were relative to very heterogeneous
national realities, because of each country’s own
characteristics, but mainly because of the different
technical and institutional capacities both at the trade
unions’ and at the governmental level. Due to this,
some adjustments in schedules and activities as well
as the adoption of specific strategies for each country
had to be made. Brazil and Uruguay already had
extensive technical capacities. They also had
historically been involved in chemical management
and in key areas like environmental protection and
occupational health and safety. They were familiar
with participation and dialogue mechanisms with the
different actors of social dialogue; and had solid trade
union networks. For this reason strategy focused on
consolidating both spaces for dialogue and existing
union structures to achieve a greater integration of
chemical safety issues into their respective agendas.
In Chile, a Chemical Safety Plan was under
consideration. However, there were still important
deficiencies in, among other problems, labour
regulations; limited civil society participation in
dialogue; strong presence of outsourcing in key
sectors like mining and oil companies; and a weaker
workers’ organisations,. In this case a main goal was
to foster dialogue with the different and appropriate
governmental bodies to promote participation and
carry out awareness raising activities, training and
establish spaces where unions could exchange
experiences in subjects like occupational health and
safety, environmental protection and chemical safety
within different sectors.
and civil society’s capacities were, in general, very
limited. In the case of the unions, this was due to a
low level of unionisation and fragmentations in
multiple organisations. Some were very small, and
had limited or nonexistent influence.
It was decided, on one hand, to work together with
different trade unions’ confederations, and try to
make progress on different possible points of joint
action. For example, providing tools that could be
useful both at a union and government level;
facilitating dialogue channels between the unions
and the government; and providing different training
spaces: general basic training and more specific
training for a limited group of union leaders. Given
the enormous weight of informality, it was decided
also to include informal sectors like street vendors,
domestic workers and waste pickers.
This heterogeneity was also reflected in the
projects’ results on each of the countries. There
were differences in reach and impact, depending on
the aforementioned 3 factors: the respective
national situation, union capacities and institutional
capacities. Despite this heterogeneity of results,
and as explained in the next section, the projects
are considered to have contributed significantly in
all cases towards a better management of
chemicals at the national and workplace level.
 

In the case of El Salvador, Nicaragua and the

Dominican Republic, levels of informality,
precarious work and poverty, as well as government
weaknesses on controlling and implementing
regulations, were a much higher priority than in the
other three countries in the Latin American Southern
Cone. The main issues were lack of structure and
human resources, insufficient funding, lack of
mechanisms to ensure law compliance, superposition
of competences, and a lack of political will.

Likewise, the occupational dimension was completely

missing from chemical policies and programs, and
there was no trade unions participation in any of the
dialogue mechanisms on the subject. Trade unions’
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             20
 4. Main results of Sustainlabour’s QSP Projects
In this section, the projects’ main results are
described along with an assessment carried out when
they finished. Significant impacts were obtained on
strengthening union organisations and their agendas,
a large number of workers were trained on safe
chemical management and responsibilities and
structures were generated at a union level. In some
cases these structures have been established at
sectoral or union level, but in others multi-trade union
committees have been created to coordinate and
follow up the agenda1.
It is important to highlight that the strengthening of
trade union organisations, and the fact that these
issues have been implemented in their programs and
action plans, had a direct impact on project outputs.
The involvement and commitment of the
organisations that participated in the projects was
fundamental to achieving the goals and objectives.
The trade union structures that have been created
and the inclusion of chemical issues in the trade
union agenda are fundamental for the sustainability of
the work undertaken in the six countries.
We believe that the projects have significantly
contributed to increasing participation and articulation
of civil society on these matters; to increasing
awareness and training among workers and the
general public; as well as the direct impacts that they
have had at the sectoral and workplace levels.
In addition to a general assessment of results, this
section also includes boxes which illustrate specific
results in the different countries. This information has
been updated at the time of writing this report through
interviews with involved actors to better valuate the
impacts2.
                                                            
1
For more information on the impactos on trade union
structures see the Final Narrative Reports of both projects
http://sustainlabour.org/programas.php?lang=EN&idprograma=9
2
Phone and e-mail interviews consucted in August 2014.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             21
a. Direct and indirect
beneficiaries
The participants
Interest aroused by the projects during
implementation far exceeded involved organisations
expectations. Trade unions saw the subject as a
matter of marginal interest for workers in their own
organisations. Hence, both projects' previsions and
goals were greatly surpassed: of an excepted total
of 400 to 500 participants in the projects' different
activities, the numbers increased to 1,546
participants, of whom 30% were women. The
possibility of broadening the scope rose in great
measure because of the greater number of training
activities that were carried out with resources
provided by target organisations. To date, some of
these training activities continue to be replicated in
Uruguay, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.
81% of all participants, that is 1,254 people,
participated in training activities. The rest of the
activities included: Multipartite Conferences in El
Salvador and Dominican Republic, a pilot project
with waste collectors in the Dominican Republic,
and an International Tripartite Conference in Brazil.
Participants came from some of the most critically
chemical-risk-relevant sectors including: agriculture,
the pharmaceutical and chemical industry, paper
mills, tanneries, fish farming, the rubber industry,
plastic factories, ports and airports, cleaning,
commerce, health, maquilas, metallurgy, mining,
public administration, street vendors, waste picking
and recycling.
Box 2: Working with the most vulnerable 
In both projects work was carried out with a
variety of sectors based on a double criterion:
the level of exposure of workers or communities
to chemical risks; and the level of protection or
capacity to tackle these risks. The combination
of these two factors gave an indicator of
chemical risk vulnerability for a sector or social
group .These groups included agricultural
workers, informal workers from different sectors,
oil or mining industry outsourced workers,
precarious workers from maquila, etc.. There
were differences in levels of protection and the
risk burden of some sectors; this continues to be
a present reality in all six countries where the
projects were implemented.
Based on this analysis, in the Dominican
Republic a specific activity to raise awareness,
provide training and strengthen one of the most
vulnerable sectors was carried out. This was the
waste pickers sector. This sector was chosen
due to two factors: firstly its vulnerability and,
secondly some waste picker organisations'
recent demands to strengthen their articulation
within labour movements.
These groups of workers are already socially
vulnerable groups and have a high proportion of
women workers, elderly people and child labour.
They are exposed to a combination of physical,
chemical and psychosocial risks. Work and
sanitary conditions are deplorable, even in
municipal dumping sites and official
associations. There is no kind of social security
protection. Organisation levels are very low,
meaning that their capacity to influence public
policies and possibilities of improving working
conditions are minimal.
This broad participation happened mainly, but not
only, through Multipartite and Tripartite
Conferences. It also took place in concrete
synergies such as drawing up reports and training
materials, getting speakers involved in training
activities, etc. This was achieved with varying levels
of success in the 6 different countries.
In Southern Cone countries, participation from the
biggest non-union stakeholders was achieved,
fundamentally through the Tripartite International
Conference which took place in São Paulo with
union and government participants from Brazil,
Chile and Uruguay. In addition there was a high
attendance from academic institutions and
employer organizations from Brazil. This greater
participation of other actors is probably related to
the more mature social dialogue in these countries,
particularly in Brazil and Uruguay.
Figure 4: participants by profile (%)
Brazil, Chile, Uruguay

Also, in the dumping sites where work was

carried out (among the biggest in the Dominican
Source: Final activity report. Sustainlabour.
Republic) the industrial or pathological waste
arrives along with the domestic waste, and there
is no sorting or previous treatment. Accidents,
intoxications, diseases, serious injuries and Outreach and communication
deaths are very common among sector workers.
In addition to direct participation in the project
In many cases exposure to hazardous
activities, an outreach and massive dissemination
substances has played a major role. With all this
program was carried out using different media, such
in mind, the project worked together with trade
as printing and distributing training material,
unions, waste pickers, and waste recycling
diagnostic reports, leaflets and awareness-raising
associations. It covered both associations for
posters. Along with this, electronic distribution
street workers and dump site workers.
channels and networks were used, both by
Achievements included, waste picker
Sustainlabour and other organizations. Tens of
participation in the National Commission on
thousands of people were reached with articles and
Waste (“Mesa Nacional de Residuos”), alliances
relevant information articles. The projects and their
forged with trade unions - which led to progress
results were presented in international events such
on pilot projects to sort at source, and advances
as Side Events in UNEP, ICCM, etc.
ware made in the discussion about improving
sanitary conditions with the municipalities Particularly in El Salvador, which was enduring a
responsible for the dumping sites. pollution crisis due to pesticides at the time of the

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               22
 project, massive campaigns were carried out through
paid announcements of national reach on the radio
and in newspapers.
Chart 4: Quantity and kind of outreach and
  campaign materials  b. Contributing to the National
Material Estimated Quantity 
Campaign materials: sector
53,000 printed leaflets
specific leaflets (Brazil, Chile and
distributed  documentation from national and sectorial levels in
Uruguay)
Campaign materials: leaflets and
15,000 printed leaflets
posters about pesticides (El
distributed 
Salvador and Dominican Rep.)
1,200,000 radio
Written press and radio listeners
Campaigns (El Salvador) 150,000 written press
readers  a National Report was drafted for each country.
Source: Final activity reports. Sustainlabour.  In addition to the initial diagnosis, the National
Reach and Capillarity
Beyond the direct participation in the project activities,
and the massive actions of dissemination and
communication, the characteristics and
representation of involved union organisations must
be taken into consideration when evaluating the
potential reach and sustainability of the projects.
In general it can be stated that union organisations
possess vast communication networks and capillarity
which in principle should allow a greater number of
beneficiaries to be reached. There are concrete
possibilities for multiplication at the level of different
sectors, geographical areas and especially vulnerable
social groups. Even though the relationship is not
direct, since the capacity and representation of
organisations depend on many factors and not just
the number of members, however affiliation data can
still give an idea as to the potential outreach.
In this sense, organisations that participated in the
first project have ample coverage in national territory
and have important technical and organisational
capacities, especially in the cases of Brazil and
Uruguay. Together, they have 9 million members who
come from the most diverse sectors and regions of
the country.
As previously mentioned, unionising is in general
lower in Central America and the Caribbean, and in
addition there exists greater fragmentation and
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               23
precarious employment. Together, union
organisations involved in the project covered
650,000 members.
Agendas on Chemicals
One of the first tasks that was dealt with was the
collection of available information and
order to identify information gaps, capacities and
weaknesses at the union and public administration
levels. Available documentation was reviewed and
complemented with interviews with union leaders;
national authorities on health, the environment and
labour; university and research centre experts;
environmental NGOs, etc. From this research work
Reports offered a new approach that allowed for
incorporating and understanding links between safe
chemical management, occupational health and
decent work conditions. This was something that
was virtually absent from union and administration
agendas. This approach turned out to be of
particular importance to achieve the mainstreaming
of chemical risks issues in the labour agenda.
The National Reports represented a significant
contribution to the government areas responsible
for these issues, particularly in the Central
American and Caribbean countries where
institutional weaknesses are more noticeable. The
reports are valuable instruments to orient
discussions and national agendas on this subject.
“We thank the project and Sustainlabour for
drafting the National Report. It is an excellent
contribution that reflects our country’s reality and
we commit ourselves to taking into account its
conclusions a hundred percent” (Ms. Lina Pohl.
Vice Minister of the Environment and Natural
Resources of El Salvador, San Salvador, August
2013)Furthermore, the project contributed to
implementing national policies on chemicals,
reinforcing the lines of action related to
strengthening civil society, and especially the
capacities of workers. It also reinforced the
integration of occupational health and safety issues
into those policies. Some examples are the National
Policy on Chemical Safety (PNSQ) in Chile3, the
National Policy on dangerous substances’
management in El Salvador4 and the National Profile
on Chemicals in the Dominican Republic.
 
Box 3: Contributions to the National Profile in the
Dominican Republic 
The National Profile on Chemicals and Hazardous
Waste5, published in 2013, was drafted while the
Project was being implemented, which allowed for an
intervention in the process by direct contact with the
environmental authorities of the Ministry of the
Environment and Natural Resources (MARN). This
provided the opportunity of not only accessing
updated information, but also contributed to
identifying concerns in the world of work.
The main conclusions and recommendations from the
National Report issued by Sustainlabour were
included in different sections of the National Profile.
The conclusions of the National Profile ask for
worker’s involvement as a priority actions.  and in all six there are certain traditions of dialogue
The Projects had an impact on the implementation of
Occupational Health and Safety regulation, and this is
no minor deed taking into account the needs and
gaps that these countries still face. For example, in
Uruguay, the Project contributed to expanding the
Health and Safety Commissions for companies. This
is something that used to be almost exclusive to the
chemical industry. They also helped to place the
chemical safety issue on the commissions´ agendas.
In El Salvador the Project coincided with the launch of
a new law on “Occupational Risks”, which establishes
the constitution of Health and Safety Bipartite
Commissions at company level. The project
contributed to this process by providing tools that
allowed chemical risk to be included as these
committees were constituted. A typically important
component of policies and strategies on chemicals is
raising awareness, participation and involvement of
                                                            
3 this last point, in Brazil, the project drove the
National Policy on Chemical Safety (PNSQ)
http://www.sinia.cl/1292/articles-44404_PoliticaNacSegQuimica.pdf
4
National policy to assess National infrastructure for
managing chemical substances in El Salvador. A proposal for an
Appropriate Environmental and dangeourous substance
Management policy 2010.
http://www2.unitar.org/cwm/publications/cw/np/np_pdf/El_Salvador
_National_Profile.pdf
5 representatives to become a part of the Operational
National Profile on Chemicals and Hazardous Waste.
2013
http://www.ambiente.gob.do/Ministerio/Gestion/ProyectoProgramaI
nicioRapido/Proyecto%20Programa%20Inicio%20Rapido/2.4%20N
P_Dominican%20Republic.pdf
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               24
the different actors and society in general. In this
sense the projects contributed significantly to
making the chemical agenda visible to the general
public, workers and unions:
“…before the project only those who directly
participated in the ICCM knew about SAICM
and the processes of chemical management.
The tripartite Conference carried out in Sao
Pablo gave the opportunity to share
information with many other interested actors,
not only the unions, but also other interested
society actors. The project has made these
processes known to all institutions related in
any way with the subject.” (Fernando Vieira
Sobrinho, Fundacentro/MTE. Sao Pablo,
October 2010)
c. Promoting Dialogue
The six countries have been going, for the last few
decades, through different democratic processes
in accordance with international standards.
However, the degree of development of the social
dialogue processes, along with union possibilities
and capacities to intervene, are very different in
each country. The main deficiencies can be
observed in Chile – where most ILO regulations that
guarantee worker participation were not ratified
when the project was being carried out – or the
countries of Central America and the Caribbean,
which have high levels of precarious work and a
heavy union fragmentation which complicates
worker participation in the few available
participation spaces .For this reason workers are
often absent from the debate on measures and
policies for chemical management. This remains
true even in those stages where they have a right to
demand participation. On this point, both projects
significantly contributed to improving or facilitating
(and in some cases inaugurating) dialogue between
different actors, and gains were even made in those
countries where high levels of dialogue and
participation were already expected. Focusing on
reactivation of the National Commission of
Chemical Safety – CONASQ – whose work had
been paralyzed for the last 3 years. In Uruguay, it
allowed for dialogue with the different areas of the
government to start. In Chile it helped union
Commission of the National Policy on Chemical
Safety (PNSQ), which, up until the start of the
projects, only included governmental bodies,
business’ sector representatives,
academic institutions.
To accomplish these achievements, setting up the
Regional Tripartite Conference at the start of the
Project was key. It was held in San Pablo, Brazil and
participants to the social dialogue came from three
levels in Brazil (employers-government-workers),
unions and government representatives from Chile
and Uruguay, and also participants from NGOs and
Brazilian academic institutions. Apart from
exchanging views and experiences, the Conference
made progress possible in terms of agreements and
cooperation commitments between governments and
unions that were stated in the “Charter on principles
and general for the promotion of the sound
management of chemicals in the workplace”. This
was widely disseminated and included in the
International Conference on Chemicals Management
(ICCM2)6.
Box 4: Reactivation of the National Commission
on Chemical Safety of Brazil  between trade unions, particularly in El Salvador
The National Commission on Chemical Safety
(CONASQ)7 was created in 2000 and is a dialogue
space. It serves as a mechanism of inter-sectorial
articulation to promote the adequate management
of chemical substances. It strives to create
opportunities to strengthen, disseminate and
develop inter-sectorial actions related to chemical
safety and also to accompany the implementation
of the National Program on Chemical Safety
(PRONASQ).
It is chaired by the Ministry of the Environment and
has 22 members. These consist of public
institutions, NGOs, academic institutions, business
sector and worker organizations.
The CONASQ resumed its meetings in August
2009, after three years of inactivity. Its reactivation
had been one of the commitments taken on by the
union, business and governmental representatives
in the Regional Tripartite Conference, which was
held in San Pablo, in April 2009.
Since its reactivation, the CONASQ has held 29
meetings. This is in addition to setting up. Working
                                                            
6
SAICM/ICCM.2/INF/47- Available at
http://www.saicm.org/images/saicm_documents/iccm/ICCM2/meeti
ng%20documents/ICCM2%20INF47%20LAC%20unions%20S.pdf
7 8
More information at http://www.mma.gov.br/seguranca-
quimica/comissao-nacional
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               25
NGOs and Groups to monitor specific subjects, such as the
working group which follows up on negotiations on
Mercury, and the working group which monitors
regulations on substances for industrial use.
Source: Ministry of the Environment (MMA), August 2014. 
For countries from Central America and the
Caribbean, National Multi-Stakeholder Conferences
were held in El Salvador and the Dominican
Republic8. Participants were unions, the
government, businesses, NGOs, associations,
cooperatives and universities. It was the first time
that events of this kind had been held in the
country, and is why they had such a great political
impact. In fact, it was widely covered by the media.
Although no binding decisions were made, the
conclusions from the Multi-Stakeholder
Conferences laid out an interesting roadmap for
trade unions as well as for the future work of the
other actors, particularly certain government areas.
Equally praiseworthy is the facilitation of dialogue
and the Dominican Republic, where there had been
no tradition of working on common agendas. The
project gave rise to 2 important elements: dialogue
spaces were created to deal with key matters and
the labour movement received increased visibility.
On the latter point, , workers stood together firmly
on pressing matters such as new legislation on
pesticides in El Salvador, where they held press
conferences, made press releases and used radio
announcements to outreach nationally.
d. Strengthening Union
Organisation: Capacities and
Tools for Action
Even though this subject normally concerns
workers across different sectors, as they frequently
witness health problems and accidents at work
which are related to chemical exposure, in general
the issues of chemical risk are marginal inside trade
union agendas. This is especially true in countries
that present important deficits in social and labour
conditions, where union agendas usually prioritise
the pressing needs related to precarious work,
informality and lack of protection .For the projects
implemented by Sustainlabour, most trade unions
which participated had not previously discussed or
A Conference in Nicaragua was cancelled because it
was considered that the process was not sufficiently mature.
looked at the issue of chemical safety. The only
exception was trade union from chemical industry
workers in Brazil and Uruguay.
The first challenge was to understand the links
between precarious work, health and the apparently
marginalisation of chemicals; and also to mainstream
the issue in trade union agendas. In countries from
Central America and the Caribbean, there was also
the additional challenge of heavy union
fragmentation. Coordination strategies were needed
to seek common ground so that, at least, minimal
unity action could be carried out at a national or
sectoral level.
To overcome these challenges Union Working
Groups were set up in each country. In addition to
these, inter-trade union coordination structures were
create to facilitate dialogue between the different
organizations, guarantee process coherence and
maximize the impact of both projects.
Very often trade unions have previous experience of
collective work related to cooperation in projects or
specific situations. Frequently, these working groups
are demobilized once the issue is overcome or at the
end of the period of cooperation (this may be due to
reduced resources or weakening of the agenda). In
this opportunity for collective work,, where possible,
previous work experiences were recovered, e.g. in
Uruguay, where an already existing commission on
Health, Security and the Environment was broadened
and became stronger. Four years after the Project
was terminated, the working group in Uruguay is still
operational and continues to monitor the subject.
“The Project allowed us to unite unions from different
sectors to discuss a common subject. We mobilized
to organize the events, to prepare materials and to
plan the activities we had in mind. We gave priority to
collective work (…) the results of the Project are a call
to this collective, so that it continues its work and
carries on consolidating union capacities and
monitors the national chemical safety policy ”. Jorge
Ramada, Coordinator of the Occupational Health and
the Environment department of PIT-CNT. Working
groups played an important role in mainstreaming
this subject in the trade union agenda. With
different levels of consistency, the different trade
unions were able to include chemical risk reduction in
their plans and strategies for action: Congresses and
Assemblies resolutions, such as in the case of
several organisations in the Dominican Republic;
introducing the subject to bipartite and tripartite
existing spaces at the requests of trade unions in
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               26
Uruguay, Brazil and the Dominican Republic;
constituting an Occupational Health and Safety
Commission in the largest confederation in Chile,
made up of members from the former national trade
union Working Group:
“In our Central [CUT Chile], we have
understood the need for this to be a
priority in our agenda (…), the issues
have been established and spaces that
will allow us to take a step forward with
creation of the Health and Safety
Commission are being created”. Luis
Fuentealba, National Secretary of Risk
Prevention, Health, Environment and
Energy of CUT Chile.
It is important to highlight that the strengthening of
trade unions along with the fact that these subjects
have been included in their programs and plans of
action, has a direct impact on the implementation of
national and local policies. This is because they
allow for a more qualified participation in these
processes. The implementation of government
measures to control and regulate the use of
chemicals will probably be favoured by having
worker organisations as strategic allies in the fight
against chemical risk.
Also, this involvement allows for driving concrete
changes in the workplace through actions and
instruments that are typical from trade union
actions, such as collective bargaining, interventions
in the working plans of company Occupational
Health and Safety Commissions, , involving
environmental representatives in management and
impact evaluation plans, etc. The advancements in
legislation on occupational health and safety, and
the obligation to establish Bipartite Commissions in
large and medium size companies can be an
opportunity to reduce chemical risk if training
programs on the sound management of chemicals
are implemented.
Training and provision of concrete tools have
been fundamental elements in achieving ownership
of the subject by trade unions and also in facilitating
their actions at different levels.
As mentioned in previous sections, there was a
prior awareness on the need for training. However,
uptake was much higher than expected. Knowledge
possessed by the few workers who had had access
to any training on these issues before was generally
individualistic, meaning that it was only related to
their job position and the company in which they
worked. It was basically based on professional
training offered within the same company. The only
exceptions were trade unions in the chemical industry
in Brazil and Uruguay. They already had experience
in negotiation, participation in social dialogue spaces,
union training, etc.
As previously stated, the demand highly exceeded
the previsions and goals of the project: of an
expected total of 250 to 335 training activity
participants, 1,254 participants actually took part.
Some multiplication of these activities was possible
thanks to concerned organisations contributing
additional resources .Participants came from various
sectors: mining, oil, domestic workers, paper mills,
chemical factories, iron and steel industry, agriculture,
tanneries, fishers, plastic factories, etc. In El Salvador
and the Dominican Republic, there was a very strong
presence of informal sectors, some of which are not
unionised, such as associations of waste pickers and
women’s cooperatives.
A Training Guide on Chemical Risk was issued for
every country, and directed especially to workers.
About 5,000 printed guides were distributed and
about 20,000 were issued through electronic media.
The Training Guide was used in multiple activities
which were carried out after the end of both projects.
In addition to trade unions' use of the Guide, it is
worth mentioning that it has been reprinted by the
Chemistry and Pharmacy Faculty of El Salvador, and
is to be used in different University programs. It is
also being used by the Administration of Occupational
Risks (ARL) in the Dominican Republic as study
material in their training programs for workers.
e. Spreading and Raising
Awareness about Risks in Key
Sectors
One of the challenges present when tackling
chemical safety with workers is the scarcity of
awareness raising instruments in an accessible
language. It is also challenging to generate change
through increasing knowledge and generating
awareness about the seriousness of the situation but
without causing dismay and helplessness among
workers. Many workers can feel this when faced with
the reality of the situation, which in turn calls into
question the way in which they have been working
and producing all their lives. Moving beyond
incorporating worker perspectives and participation in
discussions on chemical safety policies, another way
to favour mobilization towards action and change is to
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America               27
consider problematic sectoral cuts and scale these
so that they are “manageable” for workers. It is at a
sectoral level and in their workplaces where they
and their organisations have a more concrete space
for action and where they can make changes to
production processes, and gain positive direct
impacts.
In this sense, other key actions in the projects were
the Sector Specific Campaigns on Chemical
Risk. In Brazil, Chile and Uruguay nine sector
specific leaflets were produced - three for each
country - for key sectors related to chemical risk.
they were chosen for the activity risk level and the
vulnerable situation of its workers. They were:
plastic, rubber and fertilizers in Brazil; mining,
salmon farming and agriculture in Chile; and the
chemical industry, pulp and paper production and
steel industries in Uruguay.
Based on the premise that you cannot fight what
you do not know, the sector specific leaflets aimed
to inform, raise awareness and also make trade
union proposals known on reducing chemical risk.
Proposals covered concrete actions regarding
regulations, legislation and control mechanisms,
and covered more general needs on worker
participation and respect for worker rights. In El
Salvador and the Dominican Republic awareness
raising campaign centred on pesticides was
carried out. As stated in previous sections, this is a
critical subject in the project countries because of
its indiscriminate use, aerial spraying in areas close
to towns and the existence of obsolete stockpiles.
Furthermore, these are countries which have a high
proportion of rural population who are dedicated to
agriculture and work in seriously precarious
conditions. This means protecting workers against
diverse occupational risks is even more difficult.
A few days after launching the Campaign on
pesticides in El Salvador the Parliament banned the
use of more than 50 pesticides on account of their
health risks. This provoked a strong backlash from
the biggest agricultural producers. The labour
movement faced this clearly, firmly and remained
unified. They demanded that the new Law should
be applied though public manifestations of support:
statements, press conferences and radio
announcements which have a massive outreach.
 
Box 5: El Salvador, trade unions´ Press Release on the Law for the control of pesticides

Source: “La Prensa Gráfica”. Published on 30 September 2013. Page 75. www.laprensagrafica.com

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America   28               
 5. Conclusions
The QSP project implementation provided an
opportunity to accompany the regional chemical
agenda's growth during the four years in which this
work was undertaken. (2008 to 2010, and 2011 to
2013). Some “lessons learnt" and trade union
proposals and recommendations that came up
throughout the lifetime of both projects are outlined
here.
a. Improving knowledge and
information
Aims for the projects' collective consultation and
discussion processes for the National Reports were
to identify gaps, needs and capacities for chemical
management in the different countries covered. A
general conclusion is that there has been confirmed
significant progress in the last few years in the region,
and especially since the adoption of SAICM and the
implementation of the various QSP Projects.
Progress has been made in all six countries on
implementing and setting out different instruments
such as the National Profiles, chemical substances
and dangerous waste Management Policies, etc.
These documents gather important national
information together. Essentially they identify priority
courses of action, stakeholders, normative
frameworks and the competencies of different
institutions which are responsible for this area.
However, deficiencies regarding information on
pollutants and a lack of updated records and
inventories were observed. The progress made in
these issues is recent and has mostly been on
specific substances. These are in general, certain
substances of special interest like Mercury or
Persistent Organic Pollutants.
International studies such as the Global Chemicals
Outlook (GCO) provide important contributions to
identifying chemical pollution effects on people and
ecosystems. However regional information on these
matters is still limited.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             31
In this sense, it is essential to move forward with
research on both pollutants and their effects on
human and environmental health. Examples of lead
or pesticide pollution, such as those described in
this document, are uncovered on an almost daily
basis in Latin American countries. Regrettably,
these cases become visible due to different public
health crises with a number of deaths, critical
illnesses and irreversible effects.
It would be necessary to conduct epidemiological
studies to confirm and monitor environmental
diseases that may be attributable to chemical
pollution. This is especially true in abandoned
industrial areas, rural areas where pesticides are
sprayed and active industrial hubs.
b. Adding the health and safety
dimension
Although in some of the countries, plans and
policies regarding chemical management
considered health and occupational safety issues
among their priorities, in all of them there is a
significant statistical gap, with under-recording
levels that make it impossible to properly evaluate
the real situation. This is one of the biggest
challenges in the region and it is directly related to
the levels of precarious working conditions and
informality. Sustainlabour’s projects have
contributed to awareness raising in governments
and other parties on the links between chemical risk
and working conditions.
To make progress in this aspect it is essential to
improve control systems and record occupational
diseases and accidents. This includes providing
financial and technical resources to organisms that
are responsible for public inquiries, in particular
occupational inspector bodies and specialised
doctors.
As pointed out before, laws dealing with
occupational health oblige almost every country to
set up Bipartite Commissions to deal with
occupational health and safety matters. It is
necessary to reinforce the capacity of these
committees' members and workers’ representatives in
general so they can incorporate the issue of chemical
risks in their agendas.
 
Likewise, the subject of chemical risk tends not to be
integrated in occupational health and safety policy.
An example of this is the virtual absence of the
subject in the Iberoamerican Strategy on
Occupational Health and Safety. As was stated, the
trade union organizations that participated in the
project have been pointing precisely this deficit out in
the discussion prior to their approval.
At a national level, the project also had an impact. For
example, as a result of the project, the Administration
of Occupational Risks (ARL) in the Dominican
Republic incorporated a module on chemical risk in
their training program.
c. Integrating agendas
Although the severity of the problem and the
importance of making progress towards a sound
management of chemicals are acknowledged, this
subject tends to be relegated on the political and
social agendas in the region. In this regard it is
necessary to urgently incorporate chemical risk
issues in sectoral policies, development strategies,
poverty reduction plans, decent work programs, etc.
The lack of information about the effects that
chemical pollution has on health and livelihoods is
related to this difficulty to integrate agendas. It is
necessary to make these links more evident so that
the interactions and possible synergies between one
and the other are better understood.
The studies carried out by Sustainlabour under the
projects framework sought precisely to contribute to
identifying these links between working conditions
and the exposure to hazardous substances.
Likewise, a better understanding of the costs of not
taking action is crucial to understanding the
importance of adopting measures and strategies
oriented towards prevention. As previously described
in this report, studies already exist that give an initial
approximation and appraisal in terms of lost
opportunities and additional health costs caused by
polluting agents, such as the case of lead in children
who are younger than 5 years old.
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             32
An important step in the direction of integrating
agendas is to create, in all of these countries, inter-
ministerial coordination mechanisms to implement
different chemical policies and measures. In
general these spaces are chaired by the
Environment Ministries, and the Ministries of Labour
are among the members. However, the labour
dimension seems not to be very present in the
discussions.
d. Broadening and
strengthening participation
mechanisms
Increased articulation in different government areas
is needed to encourage successful implementation
of chemical management. This must happen along
with participation from all stakeholder such as: the
industry, academic institutions, NGOs, worker
organizations among other vulnerable groups. Most
countries have established dialogue mechanisms
that include participation from these different actors.
At the time of initiating the projects, some of these
mechanisms did not have workers’ representatives’
participation, and others had been inactive for many
years.
The project was a mobilizer in this sense. It
promoted and facilitated spaces for dialogue. In
some cases this resulted in the reactivation of multi-
sectoral Commissions, like the CONASQ in Brazil;
or the incorporation of trade union organizations in
participatory processes, such as the Coordination
for the PNSQ Operational Commission in Chile.
Improving civil society access to information is
needed to achieve an effective citizen participation
in chemical management. It is necessary to
guarantee the right to information, as well as to
continue to reinforce unions’ and other parties’
capacities by means of training and institutional
consolidation. As such, they can intervene in a
qualified manner in these spaces and contribute by
drawing from their own experience.
It is equally important to increase awareness and
carry out public information campaigns in general.
This deals with the risks of vulnerable groups’
exposure in a more specific way, particularly for
precarious and informal workers. From this angle,
the projects significantly contributed through
concrete tools like posters, leaflets, radio
announcements, etc. These have the potential to
reach millions of workers through communication and
capillarity networks within organisations.
Work must also continue on including these issues in
the tripartite social dialogue agendas (government-
employer-union) and in stages of collective
bargaining. More progress must be made in national
policies, and it is also fundamental to make progress
in the agenda at sectoral and workplace level as well.
Concrete actions can be carried out at work with
direct impacts and in relatively short time frames.
e. Searching for alternatives and
solutions
Many successful experiences already exist of
changes in technology or substitution of hazardous
substances which represent a reduced risk for
workers’ and environmental health. However,
oftentimes these innovations do not reach workers or
companies, or happen to be difficult to introduce due
to a lack of technical capacity or high cost.
The substitution experiences described in this
document show how workers and employers can
significantly improve health and safety conditions with
relatively simple measures, and even generate
economic benefits.
Public research institutions, university centres,
laboratories, etc. must be strengthened in order to
provide the means for research and development of
solutions and alternatives. It is at the same time
necessary to secure training opportunities for workers
in the public sector and also the private sector, on
how to roll out new technologies and processes. With
this in mind, it is also important to improve the North-
South and South-South technology exchange
mechanisms.
f. Ensuring continuity
The gap between challenges and capacities is huge,
especially in countries that still face big deficits in
essential social and labour rights. It is necessary to
double efforts and guarantee the continuing
international technical and financial support so that
the issue can move to a more prominent place in the
national and local agendas.
Chemical risks are numerous and are rapidly
changing. This is evidenced by the growing electronic
industry and new nanotechnologies. Prevention and
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             33
substitution is possible, but it can also be complex
so solutions require sustained inputs. Mechanisms
like the QSP of SAICM have proved to be very
effective and to have satisfactory results.
Even though there are immediate local solutions,
such as adopting concrete measures in work
centres or sectors, effectively managing chemical
substances requires a global approach. Partial or
country based solutions are difficult, since the low
regulating capacity of the countries,
precariousness, and a lack of protection are
decisive factors in the reallocation of the most
polluting industries.
g. Involving workers and their
organisations
Finally, the role of workers’ organisations must be
highlighted. For decades, they have called for key
elements to reduce chemical risk to be
implemented, such as precautionary and
substitution principles, the replication of best
practices, etc. At a national level, this translates into
a fight for improvements in legislation on chemical
risk, which should protect workers’ and the
environmental health against hazardous
substances.
The seriousness of the problem, the disease and
death of many workers, and understanding their
own capacity must provoke trade unions to double
efforts.
Often, trade union leadership is less aware of the
urgencies than the workers at their workplaces.
Moving beyond salary discussions in collective
bargaining processes and including health and
safety issues is a powerful tool. Projects such as
those described in this report are needed to
improve understanding of the needs and,
especially, possibilities for change.
At an international level, the labour movement has
actively participated in the development of the
SAICM Strategic Approach. The International Trade
Union Confederation (ITUC) has been involved
from the beginning in the negotiation process, by
participating and making their contributions in the
various SAICM “PrepCom” Meetings.
Trade unions are key actors to achieve sound
chemical management. Workers are among the
victims, but they are also a part of the solution. For
SAICM to be successfully implemented, the trade
union contribution should be acknowledged. This
facilitates opening concrete participation and spaces
for dialogue. This is in addition to being able to design
strategies for worker training, offering transparent
 
mechanisms of control and keeping society informed.

Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America             34
Sound management of chemicals: key to improving workers’ and communities’ health in Latin America                
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