Health, Safety, Social and Environmental Team

• Create and maintain a safe and healthy working environment for personnel and for those working on UNOPS projects;
• Promote environmental and social sustainability in all aspects of UNOPS work, from improving resource efficiency to preventing pollution, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and  protecting biodiversity, habitats and local communities;
• Uphold social principles, from preventing the infringement of human rights to upholding good labour practices, preventing discrimination, protecting cultural heritage, etc.

• Health and safety mangement 
• Workplace hazard and impact identification and mitigation 
• Incident management 
• Social and environmental management
• Protection against sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment (PSEAH) awareness
• Green-House Gas (GHG) emissions measurement and reduction
• HSSE capacity building and technical support.

At UNOPS, we take a risk-based approach to occupational health and safety. Risk assessments identify hazards and define controls to address them. If a life-threatening workplace act, omission or condition related to occupational health and safety occurs, it must be addressed immediately with the supervisor in charge. If, for some reason, people find it difficult to get the problem addressed by the workplace leaders, they should report the issue, using the reporting form. The report is forwarded to the intake officer for HSSE issues, in the HSSE team.  

Please note that a report filed to HSSE is not considered a “protected activity” under the UNOPS Protection Against Retaliation policy, as the purpose of a report to HSSE is to address occupational, social and environmental hazards.

If you are concerned about potential misconduct in connection with an HSSE concern, we encourage you to report the concern to the relevant office (e.g., IAIG or the Workplace Conduct Team). Such reports would be considered a “protected activity” under the UNOPS Protection Against Retaliation policy.

UNOPS projects undergo social and environmental screenings, and applicable projects have their impacts assessed. Social and environmental safeguards are then applied to address the identified risks and impacts throughout the project lifespan. Incidents are reported through the incident reporting system immediately after they occur and corrective measures are put in place to ensure that there is no recurrence. 

If you have social and environmental concerns or complaints concerning a UNOPS project, you may report these through the complaints and concerns response mechanism (CCRM) at the project level or escalate them to the organizational level, using the SE Grievance Redress Mechanism through the reporting form.