‘Create accident free workplaces’

01 May, 2022 - 00:05 0 Views
‘Create accident free workplaces’ Professor Paul Mavima

The Sunday News

Sione Amidu, Sunday News Reporter 

COMPANIES should create accident free workplaces so as to minimise work related accidents while also promoting good occupational safety and health conditions.

The call comes as the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) reported that in the past three years the country recorded a total of 15 073 work-related injuries with 147 being fatal while occupational diseases still remain seriously under reported serve for pneumoconiosis statistics because of a robust programme and team of medical experts who from time to time carry out workplace routine occupational medical check-ups.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Minister of State for Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Cde Abednico Ncube during the World Safety Day commemorations hosted by NSSA in Gwanda Town last week, Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Professor Paul Mavima said there was a need for social dialogue between the Government, employers and workers’ organisations, not only in responding to crises but also in promoting good occupational safety and health conditions. 

“There is a need for work places to create an accident preventive culture and to have a sound and resilient occupational safety and health system in place.

Cde Abednico Ncube

A system which can build capacity to face future emergencies and protect workers’ safety and health, while supporting the survival and business community of enterprises,” he said.

Prof Mavima said social dialogue, being negotiation and consultation, or simply the exchange of information between, or among, representatives of governments, employees and workers on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy, was critical in realising a national occupational safety and health preventive culture. 

“Our social dialogue arrangements both at national and enterprise level must function to create hazard free work environments.

According to International Labour Organisation, prevention of occupational safety and health risks is central to all the 17 sustainable development goals, particularly SDG target 8.8 which advocates for protection of labour rights and promotion of safe and secure working environments for all workers by 2030 and Goal 3 on ensuring healthy lives and promotion of well-being for all at all ages.”

He said there was a need to ensure that the country fulfills these sustainable development goals including those that have a bearing on occupational safety and health so that it becomes a highly competitive upper middle-income nation by 2030. 

Some of the mines workers who attended the events said they sometimes work in unsafe environments which were exposing them to incidents of accidents.

“Before being employed by a company, the employee is inducted before working so that one knows what he or she is required to do.

On the other hand, despite the induction; we work in places which are not safe, in fear of losing the job workers tend to keep quit and continue working in such places. In such instances many end up being injured and some lose their lives in the process. 

“Sometimes what causes a lot of these accidents are shortcuts from the workers, in a rush to finish the allocated work or to sleep on duty. They end up using wrong ways,” said a mine worker.

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