The Industrial Health Unit is a non-governmental organisation which came into being in the late 1980's as part  of the Centre for Industrial Labour Studies, in the Department of Sociology, at the University of Natal. This group of projects was established in support of the Labour movement in KwaZulu Natal at a time when workers rights, health and safety enjoyed little protection under the law. Despite the profound changes to occupational health and safety policy and legislation since 1993, many workers have yet to see a change in their working conditions, and accident rates remain high, while occupational diseases are slowly starting to be detected and reported.

The challenge facing the IHU and similar organisations therefore is to continue to provide the necessary support and services to workers where such services are unavailable, and simultaneously to assist in building capacity in various structures to ensure that the ultimate goal of effective health and safety standards, policies and services is available to all workers.

The role of the IHU has been, and continues to be...

to provide a complementary range of services to workers in order to implement the participative workplace systems to health and safety described in current legislation ;

prevent accidents and disease; ensure the prompt and adequate treatment of the victims of accidents and disease in order to prevent disability;

Assist those who are ultimately disabled in obtaining rehabilitation, compensation and, where necessary, social support.

This unique combination of services allows us to react in an holistic and effective manner to situations that arise.A  worker presenting to the clinic with a suspected occupational disease may result in a visit to the workplace by our Industrial Hygienist to identify potential hazards and advise on control measures; this is particularly important in smaller industries and the informal sector where commercially available industrial hygiene services are beyond the means of the employer, to the detriment of health and safety standards.

In addition to the services provided above,the IHU has devoted a large proportion of its time to specific projects, in order to address our second challenge of building capacity among various groups in the labour and health sectors.  The rural sector has been targeted in the last 2 years, with a series of workshops for primary health care nurses in rural areas throughout the province in 1997, and an educational project for forestry and agricultural workers in 1998. For the immediate future, we have developed a joint project with the Construction and Allied Workers Union , targeting health and safety in the construction industry over the next 3 years.

The IHU recently moved from the Department of Sociology to the Department of Community Health at the University of Natal Medical School but, as before, does not receive any financial support from the university at all. The IHU has relied, up to now, on external funding from the European Community, ISCOS and, more recently, the Department of Labour, among other sources.