Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context

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dc.contributor.authorLondon, Leslie
dc.contributor.authorTangwa, Godfrey
dc.contributor.authorMatchaba-Hove, Reginald
dc.contributor.authorMkhize, Nhlanhla
dc.contributor.authorNwabueze, Remi
dc.contributor.authorNyika, Aceme
dc.contributor.authorWesterholm, Peter
dc.date.accessioned2015-01-17T05:15:13Z
dc.date.available2015-01-17T05:15:13Z
dc.date.issued2014-06-23
dc.date.updated2015-01-15T17:59:20Z
dc.description.abstractAbstract Background International codes of ethics play an important role in guiding professional practice in developing countries. In the occupational health setting, codes developed by international agencies have substantial import on protecting working populations from harm. This is particularly so under globalisation which has transformed processes of production in fundamental ways across the globe. As part of the process of revising the Ethical Code of the International Commission on Occupational Health, an Africa Working Group addressed key challenges for the relevance and cogency of an ethical code in occupational health for an African context through an iterative consultative process. Discussion Firstly, even in the absence of strong legal systems of enforcement, and notwithstanding the value of legal institutionalisation of ethical codes, guidelines alone may offer advantageous routes to enhancing ethical practice in occupational health. Secondly, globalisation has particularly impacted on health and safety at workplaces in Africa, challenging occupational health professionals to be sensitive to, and actively redress imbalance of power. Thirdly, the different ways in which vulnerability is exemplified in the workplace in Africa often places the occupational health professional in invidious positions of Dual Loyalty. Fourth, the particular cultural emphasis in traditional African societies on collective responsibilities within the community impacts directly on how consent should be sought in occupational health practice, and how stigma should be dealt with, balancing individual autonomy with ideas of personhood that are more collective as in the African philosophy of ubuntu. To address stigma, practitioners need to be additionally sensitive to how power imbalances at the workplace intersect with traditional cultural norms related to solidarity. Lastly, particularly in the African context, the inseparability of workplace and community means that efforts to address workplace hazards demand that actions for occupational health extend beyond just the workplace. Summary A stronger articulation of occupational health practice with advocacy for prevention should be an ethical norm. Ethical codes should ideally harmonize and balance individual and community needs so as to provide stronger moral authority guidelines. There is a need to consider an African Charter on Bioethics as complementary and strengthening of existing codes for the region.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationLondon, L., Tangwa, G., Matchaba-Hove, R., Mkhize, N., Nwabueze, R., Nyika, A., & Westerholm, P. (2014). Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context. <i>BMC Medical Ethics</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12257en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationLondon, Leslie, Godfrey Tangwa, Reginald Matchaba-Hove, Nhlanhla Mkhize, Remi Nwabueze, Aceme Nyika, and Peter Westerholm "Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context." <i>BMC Medical Ethics</i> (2014) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12257en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationBMC Medical Ethics. 2014 Jun 23;15(1):48en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1472-6939en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - London, Leslie AU - Tangwa, Godfrey AU - Matchaba-Hove, Reginald AU - Mkhize, Nhlanhla AU - Nwabueze, Remi AU - Nyika, Aceme AU - Westerholm, Peter AB - Abstract Background International codes of ethics play an important role in guiding professional practice in developing countries. In the occupational health setting, codes developed by international agencies have substantial import on protecting working populations from harm. This is particularly so under globalisation which has transformed processes of production in fundamental ways across the globe. As part of the process of revising the Ethical Code of the International Commission on Occupational Health, an Africa Working Group addressed key challenges for the relevance and cogency of an ethical code in occupational health for an African context through an iterative consultative process. Discussion Firstly, even in the absence of strong legal systems of enforcement, and notwithstanding the value of legal institutionalisation of ethical codes, guidelines alone may offer advantageous routes to enhancing ethical practice in occupational health. Secondly, globalisation has particularly impacted on health and safety at workplaces in Africa, challenging occupational health professionals to be sensitive to, and actively redress imbalance of power. Thirdly, the different ways in which vulnerability is exemplified in the workplace in Africa often places the occupational health professional in invidious positions of Dual Loyalty. Fourth, the particular cultural emphasis in traditional African societies on collective responsibilities within the community impacts directly on how consent should be sought in occupational health practice, and how stigma should be dealt with, balancing individual autonomy with ideas of personhood that are more collective as in the African philosophy of ubuntu. To address stigma, practitioners need to be additionally sensitive to how power imbalances at the workplace intersect with traditional cultural norms related to solidarity. Lastly, particularly in the African context, the inseparability of workplace and community means that efforts to address workplace hazards demand that actions for occupational health extend beyond just the workplace. Summary A stronger articulation of occupational health practice with advocacy for prevention should be an ethical norm. Ethical codes should ideally harmonize and balance individual and community needs so as to provide stronger moral authority guidelines. There is a need to consider an African Charter on Bioethics as complementary and strengthening of existing codes for the region. DA - 2014-06-23 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1472-6939-15-48 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Medical Ethics LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 SM - 1472-6939 T1 - Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context TI - Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12257 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6939-15-48
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12257
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/12257
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6939-15-48
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationLondon L, Tangwa G, Matchaba-Hove R, Mkhize N, Nwabueze R, Nyika A, et al. Ethics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African context. BMC Medical Ethics. 2014; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/12257.en_ZA
dc.languageengen_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066en
dc.publisherBioMed Centralen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Public Health and Family Medicineen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Health Sciencesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution*
dc.rights.holderLondon et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/en_ZA
dc.sourceBMC Medical Ethicsen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6939/
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/
dc.subject.otherOccupational healthen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAfrican philosophyen_ZA
dc.subject.otherStigmaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherOccupational health practitioneren_ZA
dc.subject.otherHealth education
dc.subject.otherMobile health
dc.subject.otherAntenatal care
dc.titleEthics in occupational health: deliberations of an international workgroup addressing challenges in an African contexten_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetype
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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