World Bank

The world bank is not a single institution but a group of five international finance and regulatory bodies that function to provide financial services and advice to governments around the world. While the bank initially was designed to provide reconstruction loans in the wake of WWII, the primary aims of the group today are economic development, poverty reduction, and the protection of the international investment market.

The motto of the World Bank Group is “a dream of a world without poverty,” but historically the goals of the institution were the physical reconstruction of war-devastated countries after World War II. However, by the 1960s these reconstruction efforts were effectively complete and economic development and poverty reduction in poor countries became the primary focus for the Bank's efforts. Today the mission of the Bank is to improve the living standards of people in the developing world through the provision of long-term loans, grants, sedentary work with computers, has brought about the risk of repetitive strain injuries, for example. Previously, hazards would be more likely to be working with dangerous machinery or with chemicals or other materials that lead to negative health outcomes. Some industrial activities, such as mining or deep-sea fishing, are inherently dangerous and even more so when proper regulations of activities are not enforced and policed.

In February 2005, 203 miners were killed in an explosion in China, part of the approximately 6,000 people killed in that industry annually, most of whom worked in poorly-regulated private sector mines. In addition to the possibility of accidents and explosions, miners also face the problem of inhaling dangerous substances leading to disease. Exposure to coal dust, for example, can lead to the lung disease pneumoconiosis, which has claimed thousands of lives and destroyed the health of thousands more. The period between exposure and development of the disease can be around 10 years, which means that it has been very difficult to demonstrate causal links and therefore obtain either better safety equipment or compensation. Figures from the United Kingdom reveal that identification of new cases of the disease continues to run at nearly 1,200 per year, despite the closure of much of the country's coal mining industry.

Other forms of hazard include bloodborne pathogens, HIV/AIDS, exposure to toxic animal droppings, and deliberate attack by terrorists. The extent to which people may be protected from these hazards depends on national-level legislation and the ability and will to enforce those laws, together with the willingness of state governments to enforce international-level safety standards, for example those promoted by the International Labor Organization (ILO). As understanding of mental health develops, so too has the understanding of what workplace conditions can cause mental health problems. Forcing this to happen requires lengthy and often difficult attempts to bring civil or criminal actions against employers who may have much more power to withstand such attempts.

Workers, especially those in vulnerable situations, are often unwilling or scarcely capable of participating in such cases. However, when precedents are set, then it is much more possible for subsequent cases [Page 1980]and technical assistance designed to help developing countries implement their own poverty reduction strategies. World Bank assistance is evident in everything from broad economic planning to infrastructure development, health and education reforms, and environmental projects.

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