2 HSE Management
HSE principles are included in Suppliers Code and in the certification systems.
These issues are also included in farmer training (depending on the certification system).
Issues regarding HSE arise, however, at all levels of the supply chain.
Cocoa harvest is labor intensive during peak season and working conditions are
very demanding, with low skilled work, high job demands, and poor ergonomic and
physical conditions. Therefore, a certain task carried out by labor can be more hazardous
than usual.
1.2.1 Plant Protection Products
The chemical plant protection products that the government provides are,
according to cooperatives and farmers, never sufficient for the farms. According to
NGOs interviewed, farmers therefore buy other products (e.g., from China), which
do not have written instructions in the language understood by farmers. Even if
written instructions in the language understood by farmers exist, illiterate farmers
may not seek help from literate persons. Therefore, chemical products may not be
mixed and applied properly and could prove risky for the person using them.
Furthermore, products are often not stored properly. They are usually kept in
homes, and people (including children) often sleep near them.
Spraying tanks are washed in water sources from which communities draw
drinking water. The assessment team will observe that cooperatives that participate
in The Cocoa Plant usually have a storage room for crop protection products and
employ spraying brigades who mix, apply, and clean up on the same day, using
protective equipment (which are not always free of cost to the farmers and therefore
some farmers choose not to use them). It, however, does not ensure that farmers do
not keep additional products at home or apply more products themselves.