Technical Specialist on Occupational Safety and Health

Introduction

The position is located in the ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (RO-Lima), based in Lima, Peru.   RO-Lima has overall political and management responsibilities for the promotion of ILO principles and policies in the region and provides strategic guidance and support to all Country Offices and Decent Work Technical Support Teams (DWTs) in the region.

The incumbent will support the implementation of ILO instruments on occupational safety and health (OSH) and will provide policy and technical assistance, develop publications and tools, and promote collaboration between countries in the region on OSH. In particular, the specialist will support national efforts for the improvement of OSH systems, programmes and capacities that foster a preventative safety and health culture.  The specialist will update ILO strategies and programmes and related research and analysis and will design and backstop result-oriented projects directed to providing specific forms of support to ILO constituents, namely within the framework of the ILO Flagship Programme Safety and Health for All and its Vision Zero Fund.   The position will provide technical support to other Decent Work Technical Support Teams in the region such as DWT/CO-Lima and DWT/CO-San José.

The position reports to the Deputy Regional Director and receives technical guidance and advice from the Labour Administration, Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Branch (LABADMIN/OSH) at ILO headquarters. The incumbent will work in cooperation with other ILO technical specialists in the region with a view to integrating and implementing OSH components in Decent Work Country Programmes. The position will be a member of the subgroup of the ILO Global Technical Team on LABADMIN/OSH.

Specific Duties

1.    Provide assistance to field offices in the region and assist governments, employers, and workers and their organizations to develop and implement OSH policies, systems and programmes to improve OSH performance at national, sectoral and enterprise levels. 

2.    Actively promote and assist countries in the region to ratify ILO Conventions on OSH, and to address bottlenecks in the implementation of these standards, namely in relation to observations of the ILO supervisory bodies, as well as to adapt national policy to ILO codes of practice on OSH.

3.    Design and implement OSH awareness raising activities in the region, namely in line with the World Day Campaign for Safety and Health at Work. Develop concept notes, coordinate or assist in the organization of regional conferences on OSH, or the representation of the region at global events on safety and health at work.

4.    Conduct and coordinate research on OSH trends and challenges in the region, including in relation to the production and analysis of OSH data, technology, climate change, industrial accidents, informality, and exposure to chemicals, biological and ergonomic hazards.

5.    Develop tailored OSH programmes for high-risk sectors and vulnerable workers, including women, migrant and young workers, as well as economic units and workers in the informal economy. 

6.    Develop and apply technical and capacity building materials on OSH, namely on the design and implementation of OSH management systems according to the ILO guidelines, emergency preparedness, systems for reporting, recording and notification of occupational injuries and diseases, and prevention of work-related accidents and diseases in particular in agriculture construction, manufacturing, global supply chains and medium and small sized enterprises. 

7.    Provide assistance to relevant ILO field offices in the region and ILO constituents in the strengthening of capacities on OSH in school curricula and educational systems as an effective means to build strong and sustained preventative safety and health cultures on a continuous basis.

8.    Actively engage with development cooperation partners, develop concept notes, project documents and backstop development cooperation projects on OSH, namely those related to the ILO Flagship Programme Safety and Health for All, and its Vision Zero Fund.

9.    Promote intra-regional collaboration between national OSH institutions in the region, and cooperate with ILO headquarters to expand and technically support the work of the Global Coalition for Safety and Health at Work.

10.    Perform other relevant duties as assigned.

These specific duties are aligned with the relevant ILO generic job description, which includes the following generic duties:

Generic Duties

1. Design and promote a wide range of special subject-matter-related programmes, This involves: analysis of complex or conflicting data, statistics and information or policy guidelines, in a manner requiring the advanced application of principles of a recognised technical specialisation. 
2. Develop and review an institutional framework, in which social partners can best improve, implement and evaluate efficient and equitable ILO action programmes.
3. Provide policy advice to ILO’s constituents on institutional strengthening, the application of ILO standards and the promotion of development cooperation activities.
4. Formulate and submit project proposals and seek funding.
5. Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the project activities.
6. Undertake technical advisory missions independently or in collaboration with other specialists.
7. Conduct seminars, workshops and technical meetings and training courses.
8. Prepare draft recommendations and guidelines for discussion and adoption as ILO Recommendations or Conventions on related technical fields.
9. Write manuals and/or training guides on related topics.
10. Disseminate information on programmes through publications and, press releases, as well as ensuring representation at donors’ meetings, international, regional and national fora and advocacy campaigns.
11. Monitor and coordinate research carried out by junior technical officers and external collaborators.
12. Provide technical inputs to office documents (sectoral meetings, technical committees, regional meetings and conference reports).
13. Participate in tripartite reviews on development cooperation activities and international meetings and conferences.

Required qualifications

Education

Advanced university degree in occupational safety and health, medicine, engineering, law or social sciences with demonstrated expertise in occupational safety and health.

Experience

Eight years of demonstrated experience in safety and health practice or five years at the international level. 

Languages

Excellent command of Spanish and a working knowledge of English.   Knowledge of French would be an advantage.

Competencies

In addition to the ILO core competencies, this position requires:

Technical

Ability to apply technical knowledge to develop and implement appropriate policies, systems, and programmes at the national, sectoral and enterprise levels.  Ability to synthesize research and reach empirically based conclusions on related subjects; provide seasoned advice on best practices, to address broader issues outside the field of specialization; formulate new concepts and methodologies; develop training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals, policy, procedural matters and present them at high-level meetings; design and synthesize strategies for programme development in Member States; produce reports (e.g. reports for regional conferences and the International Labour Conference, technical publications, training manuals and draft resolutions) and evaluate and monitor development cooperation activities and projects. Good communication skills, both written and verbal;  orientation to learning and knowledge sharing;  quality orientation; capacity to work on own initiative as well as cooperate as a team member.  

Behavioural
Ability to work in a multicultural environment and to demonstrate gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes.