Health Policy in Global Supply Chains

Meridian is a leader among global health firms in promoting changes in workplace policies and practices as a way to improve the health of women and men factory and farm workers in developing countries through changes in global and corporate policies and workplace practices.  Effective management of workplace health is good for companies and workers alike, resulting in better health and morale, better labor-management relations, empowerment of women, and better use of company health investments.

Yet, worker health is typically one of the most neglected areas of business operations.  Supplier companies in less developed companies rarely manage their onsite health staff, who are typically under-used resources.  Workplace health providers in their daily routines can do much more to educate workers, promote healthier behaviors, and provide needed services or refer workers to quality services in the community. Implementing accepted good health practices in most aspects requires basic management skills, not a medical degree.

Meridian provides expertise in improving policies throughout global supply chains and practices at the workplace to address two areas:

1. Developing and advocating for better policies within the global framework of standards, codes, and compliance for corporations and their supply chains. This framework is influenced by a range of international and government actors in corporate social responsibility (CSR), human rights, certification processes for fair trade, labor rights, and the environment.
2. Documenting and disseminating best practices for worker health. This includes addressing policies, standards, and legal requirements of multinational corporations as well as the management functions relating to worker health in factories, farms, and other workplaces.

Meridian leads in this work primarily through the Evidence Project/RAISE Health initiative and the Cambodia Worker Health Coalition.