La Isla Network Awarded $8 Million Grant to Promote Safe and Healthy Workplaces

LIN will lead a multi-stakeholder initiative, “Prevention, Resilience, Efficiency, and Protection (PREP 4 Change)” alongside partners World Vision, Fair Labor Association, CNV Internationaal, Mayan Health Alliance | Wuqu’ Kawoq, leading local universities, and an international network of labor policy and occupational health allies. Over the next four and half years, our consortium will address urgent health risks, including occupational heat stress driven by climate change, facing workers in the sugar sector in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; the coffee sector in Honduras; and the maquiladora sector in El Salvador. PREP 4 Change will draw on the expertise and support of dedicated allies, including amfori, ORMUSA, FEASIES, proforest, PAHO, Ingenio El Angel, adidas, The Coca Cola Company, Diageo, Fair Trade USA, and our Adelante Initiative co founders Bonsucro and Ingenio San Antonio.

LIN CEO Jason Glaser:  “This award is welcomed recognition for ten years of hard work to make Chronic Kidney Disease of non-Traditional causes (CKDnt) and occupational health a priority in the development sector. We look forward to improving conditions for workers and communities in the Northern Triangle. We firmly believe that occupational safety and health is integral to participatory economies and sustainable democracies and look forward to collaborating with the incredible consortium we have assembled, especially our dedicated partners in the U.S. Department of Labor.”

The project will involve the establishment of Centers of Excellence for occupational health best-practice, building off the trail-blazing work of LIN’s Adelante Initiative and collaborative work with World Vision at Mexican sugar mills via their Campos de Esperanza project. These Centers of Excellence will function as research sites, educational platforms, and examples for the agricultural and textiles industries-at-large for how occupational health can be responsibly and adequately addressed in the face of the surmounting occupational challenges from heat in a warming world. We will simultaneously develop systems of improved access to remediation for those who have been, or are injured or sickened at work. Finally, to ensure no occupational disease goes as unaddressed for as long as CKDnt did, we are creating an Early Warming, Alert Response, and Preparedness System (EWARPS) to protect and mitigate against future pandemics, epidemics, and occupationally acquired illness and injury (OAII), ensuring the longevity and sustainability of this project beyond the four and half year timeline. 

PREP 4 Change takes a systems approach to prevent, mitigate, and remediate workplace illness and injury, increase the utilization of existing social protections systems by workers and families impacted by workplace illnesses and injuries, and increase the preparedness of employers, unions, and government institutions for future pandemics and emerging illnesses and injuries. It will fundamentally address the needs of workers for safe, dignified work.

We are honored that the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs recognized this visionary and integrated approach towards responding to long-standing challenges in supply chains throughout Central America. We firmly believe the systems we develop through this project will be applicable to other industries and geographies worldwide. 

We could not have reached this next phase of our lifesaving work without our dedicated research network, the support of our donors, media allies, and project partners. We look forward to building on the important work that LIN and our partners have been dedicated to addressing preventable death and injury within the workplace in Central America. 

La Isla Network is a leading international occupational health research organization and consultancy dedicated to protecting workers from the fatal effects of heat in a warming world. To support our work, please visit laislanetwork.org.

Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL-37318. 100% of the total costs of the project or program is financed with federal funds, for a total of $7,999,963.63 dollars.
This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.