Carnauba Worker Rights and Safety Project

The Carnauba Worker Rights and Safety project, started in 2022 in partnership with the IRC and supported by GIZ, is implemented by UEBT every year in collaboration with four Carnauba processing companies. The aim of the project is to reduce the risks of injuries of machine workers and train Carnauba workers on health and safety, human and workers' rights. The infographic shows the results of the project from 2022 to 2024. 

The machine component of the project consists of inspections of the Carnauba beating machines, that are used in the field to extract the wax-bearing powder from Carnauba leaves, by a specialised engineer. During the inspections, the owners of the machines receive technical advice on all modifications needed to comply with safety regulations, and how to implement them. Following modifications, the beating machines are inspected a second time, and if all improvements have been correctly implemented, the owners receive a certificate of conformity with legal safety requirements. To date, the project has contributed to the improvement of 144 Carnauba machines, representing an estimated 50% of the machines in the sector, significantly reducing safety risks for approximately 800 machine workers. As the certificates of conformity have a validity period of only one year, some machines participated in the project more than once, and therefore there number of certificates is higher than the number of machines. Some machine owners were included in the project and received at least the first inspection from the engineer, but did not make the necessary safety adjustments to receive the certificate of compliance with safety regulations. 

The training component of the project consists of trainings in health and safety and human and workers' rights given by topic experts, and has reached 720 workers in the states of Piaui and Ceara. UEBT and the IRC have the ambition to reach more than 10 000 actors of the Carnauba sector with awareness-raising actions on human and workers' rights by 2030. 

A factsheet and video summarising the first year of implementation of the project, in 2022, can be found here.