“Mitigating inequalities and suffering in the world, with the human being at the center of concerns”: this is how AMI (International Medical Assistance) defines its core purpose. With the partnership established with Centralmed, this Portuguese NGO has been able to undertake a consistent path of investment in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), thus creating more appropriate conditions for fulfilling its crucial mission of humanistic inspiration.
Founded in 1984, AMI has operated in 82 countries across five continents. The goal is always to help the most vulnerable, whether through sending hundreds of volunteers or tons of medicines, medical equipment, food, clothing, vehicles, and generators, to name a few examples.
Internationally, AMI develops three major types of interventions, namely: Emergency Missions, Development Missions with expatriate teams, and International Projects in Partnership with Local Organizations (PIPOL). Its actions are always tailored to the specific characteristics and needs of each context. As such, interventions always have a phased profile, seeking to ensure the sustainability of the development process being implemented.
Since 1994, considering the reality in Portugal, AMI has expanded its area of operation to minimize the effects of poverty and social exclusion in the national territory. Consequently, it currently has 15 Social Equipment and Responses in the country, namely: nine Porta Amiga Centers (Lisbon – Olaias and Chelas, Porto, Almada, Cascais, Funchal, Coimbra, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Angra do Heroísmo); two Night Shelters (Lisbon and Porto); two Street Teams (Lisbon and Vila Nova de Gaia/Porto); one Home Support Service (Lisbon) and one Food Reception Center (Porto).
A third aspect of AMI’s work involves promoting active citizenship in the areas of associationism, training, or the environment. As such, it seeks to encourage the participation of young people and adults in concrete projects in these domains.
Being a public utility, non-profit institution, the support of companies and civil society, materialized in donations or the provision of goods and services, is fundamental for AMI. As such, almost all training conducted with employees is requested from companies on a pro bono basis.
Eunice Ribeiro, Senior Human Resources Technician at AMI, states that “partners like Centralmed are invaluable, as they allow us to foster a safety culture throughout the institution, from the most general to the most specialized actions.” In addition to training actions in the area of OHS, conducted with all employees (including those on the islands), she highlights the importance of risk assessments carried out annually at all workplaces in mainland Portugal.
The institution also emphasizes the “unparalleled availability” demonstrated by the entire Centralmed team. In recent years, training in the area of personal development has also been conducted, which has proven essential for the work carried out by employees in contact with the public.
“We knew that Centralmed is a reference group in the market and that they could help us on various levels. They understood our difficulties and are always ready to advise us on a daily basis, beyond what was agreed.”
The Senior Human Resources Technician at AMI emphasizes her satisfaction with these seven years of relationship with Centralmed. Thus, she states that, “thanks to the cooperation with this company, the Foundation was able to increase the number of training hours, enabling all employees to receive training appropriate to their functions, so they can be aware of the occupational risks they are exposed to and what they can do to prevent accidents.”
Eunice Ribeiro considers that OHS training in e-learning format, adopted in 2020 due to the pandemic context, was essential to reach employees located in various areas of mainland and insular Portugal. Furthermore, they mention that all training actions have the virtue of providing “a constant updating of knowledge to employees, in accordance with market evolution and innovation,” thus contributing to the “continuous improvement process at AMI.”
Finally, the institution emphasizes the importance of Centralmed’s intervention in the area of Workplace Accidents. “With this partnership,” says the Senior Human Resources Technician at AMI, “we can analyze each accident in detail, understand its causes, and act accordingly, investing in necessary changes.”