The first stage of a One Percent Safer Foundation-funded project to provide safety training to more than 500 women business owners in Kenya has been successfully completed. The project is overseen by Kimbo Amazing Women Group, a Nairobi-based initiative to support female entrepreneurs in founding and running businesses.

In recent months, Nairobi safety consultants Nedcare have worked with Kimbo Amazing Women Group to develop a model workplace safety policy for the small businesses the group has helped nurture since it was established in 2013. Enabled by a One Percent Safer grant, Nedcare consultants have drawn up a health and safety training manual and trained 15 staff and volunteers as trainers.

In the coming months, the training in occupational health and safety awareness and assessing and controlling workplace hazards will be passed on to 529 women-owned businesses helped by Kimbo Amazing Women Group, which include a bakery, dressmakers, nail bars and hairdressers.

The group also plans to set up a safety monitoring and reporting system to assess the implementation of safety measures in the businesses after they have been through the training. We will report on progress in a future post.