Online Reporter
Government has said it is committed to ensuring decent work and compliance to occupational health and safety standards.
Addressing the nation on the eve of the Workers Day, President Mnangagwa said decent work and working conditions are critical to national development and as such Government will continue to implement measures that promote the rights of workers. President Mnangagwa said Government was reviewing the country’s labour laws to align them with the changing dynamics of the labour market.
He said in order to ensure companies comply with occupational health and safety standards, inspections will be carried out in all sectors. Government is committed to promoting decent work as well as assist companies to put in place strategies that reduce workplace accidents and fatalities.
“To ensure compliance with labour standards, my Government is scaling up inspections to enforce regulations governing the workplace. We are determined to continually raise awareness on the importance of compliance to occupational health and safety standards as outlined in our country’s labour laws,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said all entities, both big and small have a duty to play in the quest to achieve decent work as well as reduce workplace accidents and fatalities.
President Mnangagwa said last year, an inter-agency initiative involving several ministries, departments and agencies carried out inspections across the country’s mining sector and this programme will soon be rolled out to other sectors as Government implements strategies that close the gaps and deficiencies in terms of promoting decent work.
It is our hope that companies will not wait for Government inspections but will instead take it upon themselves to ensure they comply with occupational health and safety standards.
We want at this juncture to say thumbs up to Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco) in Manhize area near Mvuma town which was recently commended for upholding high occupational health and safety standards that has seen the steel producer recording zero fatalities since its inception.
The company, a subsidiary of Chinese global investment group, Tsingshan Holdings, is one of the Second Republic’s signature projects that are transforming livelihoods of communities.
The national Social Security Authority (Nssa) said for the past four years that Disco has been in operation, it has not recorded any fatalities at the workplace.
Speaking after the tour of the giant steel plant by experts and engineers that were attending an annual Nssa Engineers Workshop in Masvingo recently, Nssa acting general manager Dr Charles Shava commended Disco for upholding high occupational health and safety standards.
He said Disco which has the potential to be the largest steel plant in Africa, has done well in terms of occupational health and safety.
“They have had only incidents where some workers have suffered some minor injuries but I think overall they have done very well because we are talking about a very big steel plant,” said Dr Shava.
The steel plant has a potential to produce 1,2 million tonnes of steel per annum when operating at full throttle. Dr Shava said Nssa was happy that Disco has a very good medical team on the ground, a confirmation that they are on top of the game and are able to deal with the issue of diseases.
What is obtaining at Disco should be emulated by other companies so that we reduce fatalities at the workplace.
