On August 16, 2008 a first of its kind conference took place, discussing the issue of work safety for Palestinians employed in settlements. The conference took place with the cooperation of Kav LaOved and the Salfit branch of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Union, in the north of the West Bank. The title of the conference was "our workers are in danger: health and safety conditions of Palestinian workers in the Barkan industrial area". The conference included 70 Palestinian workers from the Barkan industrial area. Representatives of the Salfit municipality and the Palestinian Health Ministry were also invited.

Ra’ad Abu Yusef, the safety advisor of Kav LaOved, exposed a study conducted during the last year in 60 factories in the industrial areas of Barkan, Niztaney Shalom, Aley Zahav, Karney Shomron and Imanuel - all in the north of the West Bank. The surveyed factories employ about 3000 Palestinian workers. The results of the study reveal a dismal picture of the work safety condition in those settlements. They show that 97% of the workers in those industry areas are directly exposed to dangers emerging from lack of implementation of basic work safety regulations. They also show that 59% of the workers are directly exposed to dangerous safety conditions, and are not equipped with adequate safety measures. 20% of the workers do receive some safety equipment, but this equipment does not meet minimal international standards. Furthermore, 17% of the workers receive safety equipment, but do not use it. Not a single factory supervises the use of safety equipment. According to the study, only 3% from the Palestinian workers receive adequate and proper safety equipment and use them constantly during their work.

Why is the situation so poor?
One reason is the lack of interest of Israeli employers in following safety guidelines, as these guidelines require financial investment. Another reason is the lack of government enforcement of safety regulations in those factories. In addition, the indifference of the workers and their lack of awareness to safety at the workplace make them neglect and fail to demand elementary safety measures in their workplace.

Conversations of Mr. Abu Yusef with Palestinian workers in different factories made clear that most factories are unsafely built, so even if the workers received personal safety equipment meeting international standards, they would still be in danger. For example, in one of the factories in the Barkan Industrial area there are 40 welding workers working in a closed building without windows or ventilation. The workers complain that there is a dark cloud hovering above them throughout the day, and that they suffer from respiratory problems.

Abu Yusef’s study reveals repeated work accidents in surveyed factories, and shows that there is no effort to prevent future accidents. Usually there are no safety instructions in those factories. Abu Yusef further reveals in his study that the workers in chemical factories are directly exposed to the dangers of hazardous substances. Most workers complain of ear, eye, respiratory, back and limb problems. There is indeed a need for a professional employment clinic to analyze the cause of these problems, but it is hard to ignore the high numbers of workers who work in the same workplace and suffer from the same symptoms.

It is important to mention that those health problems affect not only the health of the workers, but also their productivity. Research shows that the productivity of a healthy worker can be 3 times higher than that of an unhealthy worker.