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This
paper outlines the challenges facing the Environmental and
Occupational Health and Safety (E&OHS) in Tanzania. The paper is
mainly focused on challenges facing the growth of E&OHS based on
chemicals’ management. This analysis shows that the Tanzania’s position in the international
E&OHS platform (that is, ILO-SAMAT, WHO/ILO Joint effort,
WHO-AFRO, etc.) is very weak, namely due to lack of awareness, high
level of illiteracy, weakness in the enforcement of environmental
laws, and lack of environmental departments in small and large-scale
enterprises. Other challenges include misdistribution of worldwide
collaborating center for WHO/ILO joint efforts, weaker environmental
laws and enforcement, and the fact that the standards adopted are
not focusing on the safety and health workers and end-users of
chemicals. Finally,
recommended strategies for improving E&OHS in Tanzania are
discussed in detail, based on engineering and scientific principles.
The recommended strategies include provision and access to information on
safe chemicals’ handling, training programs for environmental
health and safety, hazard and accident prevention techniques, risk
and safety assessment, and promotion of cleaner technologies. Other
strategies include emphasis on development of proper materials
safety data sheets (MSDS) based on targeted audience, cost benefit
analysis and auditing of E&OHS. In some cases data is presented
to support the arguments. |