Companies must take a leaf from Disco’s workplace safety standards

Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco) in Manhize area near Mvuma town has been 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 the 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 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.

The company is producing 50MW of electricity using coal but has very limited pollution. The coal is emitting very little pollutants in the air. What is obtaining at Disco should be emulated by other companies so that we reduce fatalities at the workplace.

We want to applaud Disco for not just creating thousands of jobs but also ensuring that its employees work under a conducive working environment. The company has invested a lot of money in occupational health and safety hence it has recorded zero fatalities since it started operating.

The company has demonstrated that it is possible to drastically reduce fatalities at the workplace and as already stated, other companies should learn from Disco.
Occupational health and safety should be a priority for all companies if we are to reduce fatalities at the workplace.