Consultant (WHO)

Background:

The health sector is a specific labor industry, most of health workers have to work in conditions with many risk factors affecting health, which can cause illness, injury and death, especially in the context of the COVID-19 response. According to the 2018 Health Statistical Yearbook, the health sector has a large number of employees with about 500,000 people taking care and protecting the health of nearly 100 million people in the community.  

In Viet Nam, at present, the system of policies and laws on occupational safety and health and prevention of occupational diseases has been promulgated relatively fully, including the Law on Occupational Health and Safety and the documents under the Law. However, the organization and implementation of occupational health and safety work at many medical facilities have not met the requirements. According to the report on the results of inspection of the observance of the law on occupational safety and health at 07 health care facilities (HCFs) under the Ministry of Health and the summary report on occupational health and safety in the HCFs under the Ministry of Health in 2022 showed:

• The updating and dissemination of legal documents on occupational health and safety is still very limited, many HCFs do not understand the provisions of the law on occupational health and safety.
• Many HCFs have not yet developed an occupational health and safety plan or have developed a plan but the plan is very general, there is no cost estimate, no person in charge for implementation, no timeline to complete, so that the plans are not feasible for implementation. Many occupational health and safety plans are not in accordance with current legal documents.
• Many HCFs have not conducted training on occupational health and safety as prescribed in Decree No. 44/2016/ND-CP dated 15 May 2016 of the Government.
• About 70% of the HCFs that set up the profile on occupational hygiene and environment, do not identify harmful factors at work, while mainly get data from the results of monitoring of the working environment. The work environment monitoring has not assessed exposure factors as prescribed in Decree 44/2016/ND-CP of the Government.
• Many HCFs don’t know well the regulations on health examination before work assignment and regulations on examining and detecting occupational diseases. Only 30% of HCFs carry out medical examination to detect occupational diseases. Many HCFs have not yet had health management records and a medical examination book for occupational diseases (according to the provisions of Circular 28/2016/TT-BYT).

In order to effectively implement occupational health and safety, and prevention of occupational diseases, and prevention of COVID-19 infection for health workers, it is necessary to synchronously implement measures to prevent and control infection with measures to ensure occupational safety and hygiene in health care facilities.

In 2021, with the support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health has developed and issued Decision No. 838/QD-BYT dated 5 April 2022 on Guidelines on Occupational Health and Safety for health workers in COVID-19 prevention based on guidance from the WHO and the International Labour Organization (ILO).

In order to enhance occupational health and safety for health workers in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Occupational Safety and Health and Decision No. 838/QD-BYT, the Health Environment Management Agency (VIHEMA) proposed WHO to support recruitment of 01 local expert to develop guidelines for planning occupational health and safety and guiding self-checking for occupational health and safety in HCFs. This is an important support to help HCFs organize and implement the work of ensuring occupational health and safety, preventing COVID-19 for health workers in the coming time.

Planned timelines:

• Type of job: Part time
• Start date: 19 June 2023 (subject to confirmation)
• End date: 31 December 2023
• Number of working days as a consultant: 80 non-consecutive working days

Work to be performed

Purpose of the consultancy: To develop guidelines for planning occupational health and safety and guiding self-checking for occupational health and safety in HCFs.

Method(s) to carry out the activity: The selected consultant will be required to cooperate closely with WHO Country Office in Viet Nam and VIHEMA throughout the whole contract period.

S/He is expected to carry out the following tasks:

• Develop draft Guidelines for Planning Occupational Health and Safety and Guidelines for Self-Inspection of Occupational Health and Safety in HCFs.
• Coordinate with VIHEMA to organize a workshop to collect comments on the draft guidelines.
• Review, synthesize and complete the draft guidelines after having comments from relevant localities and HCFs.
• Coordinate with VIHEMA to conduct field trips to selected HCFs in 5 provinces/cities to collect opinions and test the draft guidelines.
• Finalize the draft Guidelines on Development of Occupational Health and Safety Plan and Guidelines for Self-Checking of Occupational Health and Safety in HCFs and to send them to VIHEMA for submission to the leader of the Ministry of Health (or the leader of VIHEMA) for approval.

Outputs: The guidelines for planning occupational health and safety and guidelines for self-inspection of occupational health and safety in HCFs to be approved by MOH or VIHEMA.

• Deliverable 1: Summary of review on occupational health and safety planning in HCFs (by 15 July 2023)
• Deliverable 2: A draft guidelines for planning occupational health and safety and guidelines for self-inspection of occupational health and safety in HCFs after having comments from experts (by 1 September 2023)
• Deliverable 3: A report on piloting the draft guidelines in 5 provinces/cities (by 15 November 2023)
• Deliverable 4: The final guidelines for planning occupational health and safety and guidelines for self-inspection of occupational health and safety in HCFs approved by MoH (or VIHEMA) (by 15 December 2023)

Specific requirements

Educational Qualifications required:

• Postgraduate degree in occupational health, public health, or other relevant areas from a recognized university.

Experience required:

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in in the field of occupational health and safety, occupational diseases prevention or public health, especially occupational health and safety and prevention of occupational diseases for health workers;
• Experienced in developing strategic plans and guidelines, conducting research and investigations.; and
• Experienced in working with international organizations.

Skills / Technical skills and knowledge:

• Research and analysis skills on occupational health and safety;
• Ability to work independently and teamwork; and
• Proficient in office information technology, MS Word, MS Excel, SPSS or STATA.

Language requirements:

• Fluent in English and Vietnamese

Competencies:

• Technical expertise
• Producing results
• Communication skills

Place of assignment

The Consultant is expected to mainly work at at Occupational Health Management Division, VIHEMA in Hanoi, and travel to collect data and pilot the guidelines in 5 cities/provinces (Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Da Nang and Binh Phuoc).

Medical clearance

The selected Consultant will be expected to provide a medical certificate of fitness for work.

Travel

The Consultant is expected to travel according to the itinerary and estimated schedule below:

Travel dates				Location:
From	19 Jun. 2023	To	15 Dec. 2023	Tuyen Quang, Quang Ninh, Thanh Hoa, Da Nang and Binh Phuoc
Purpose:			To collect data and pilot the guidelines

 

Budget

Please take note of the following when submitting application:

• The contractor will be responsible for paying taxes, if any.
• Application letters and updated CVs in English should be received on/or before 6 June 2023 and should be addressed to: Administrative Officer - World Health Organization - UN Building, 304 Kim Ma Street, Hanoi, Viet Nam OR  wpvnmapplicants@who.int

For further information on this Call for Expressions of Interest, please contact: wpvnmwr@who.int