The objective of the South East Asia Skills Enhancement Programme (SEASEP) is to contribute to the reduction of accidental workplace fatalities in South East Asian countries. This is being achieved through the delivery of a sustainable programme that builds capability and capacity to safely operate and maintain critical infrastructure as well as enhancing the skills of the workforce by providing access to quality, engineering-related training and education.
Background
A 2017 report by the Workplace Safety and Health Institute estimated that there are 340 million globally each year, but Asian countries have been shown to have a disproportionately high number of both fatal and non-fatal construction industry incidents.
With the rapid expansion of economies and populations in SE Asian countries, there is massive infrastructure spending across the region and a boom in construction work. While this has many benefits for the growth of the region, this could also lead to an increase in workplace accidents, dramatically worsening an already grave situation.
It is against this backdrop that SEASEP was created, addressing The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) three direct causes of accidental workplace deaths:
- Poor or no safety culture
- Lack of research into health and safety due to poor data available
- Absence of effective health and safety training (ILO, 2018)
Aims and Outcomes
SEASEP directly addresses the issues around health and safety by delivering engineering-related skills and education to disadvantaged and under-represented groups. The training is delivered in accordance with international standards to help ensure that infrastructure such as bridges, pipelines and buildings are built and operated safely throughout their service life.
The first phase of the SEASEP project has already improved the skills, competence and safety culture of individuals and companies as well as, more broadly, industries, governments and other agencies across SE Asia.
Creating a critical mass of qualified and competent personnel and trainers, SEASEP is already working to propagate skills, competence, and safety culture to employers, providing a solid foundation for the more strategic impacts of the second phase of the programme.
Delivery
SEASEP training has been delivered both in-person and online through the provision of TWI’s virtual academy, which helped maintain momentum during the Covid-19 pandemic. Online training course materials were provided free of charge as an additional resource for those studying with TWI, although all practical training associated with the courses still took place in class.
Each student was also able to reach out to a subject matter expert for any further guidance as required.
Societal Impact
SEASEP has delivered training in disciplines such as inspection and safety in line with international standards to improve skills and reduce occupational fatalities. This has created several other, related beneficial impacts to the region:
- Fewer People being Harmed: The primary aim of SEASEP is to see fewer people being harmed in avoidable workplace accidents. Trainees and employers have reported positive improvements in safety standards as a direct result of the SEASEP training
- Encouraging Female Trainees: SEASEP actively encourages female participation, which has aided career progression among female participants who were supported by a 100% bursary. This has helped further develop the process of equivalent gender representation in engineering roles
- Future Employment and Career Development: The skills taught by SEASEP have been rated highly by the participants, with around one third of trainees who were previously unemployed finding related work following their courses. Others have progressed in their careers since the start of SEASEP, with many going on to take further training courses to continue their career development
- Infrastructure Security: As well as the important work of enhancing safety, SEASEP also helps improve the security of critical infrastructure, enhancing the safety of not just people but also of property
- Public Understanding: The skills and knowledge delivered by SEASEP also have a wider benefit with an improved public understanding of risk in general
When put together, these various outcomes can improve the career progression opportunities for individuals and increase salaries. For employers and industry in general there are fewer lost time accidents and fatalities, while an upskilled workforce can also enable entry into new markets and enhance reputations.
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