Tawanda Musarurwa
GOVERNMENT has called for workplace injury statistics to be turned into prevention action, as new figures show Zimbabwe’s injury rate rising for the first time in four years.
“The analysis of injury trends enables us to identify high-risk sectors, strengthen prevention measures, and foster safer workplaces across the country,” Permanent Secretary for Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Mr Pfungwa Kunaka said in a speech read on his behalf at the National Social Security Authority’s (NSSA) 2025 Annual Statistical Report dissemination workshop in Harare on Thursday.
He said the data should help Government target prevention efforts. Officials at the workshop framed the statistics as a policy tool as much as a record of accidents.
Mr Kunaka linked injuries to economic performance.
“Behind every workplace injury, disease, or fatality is not only a human tragedy but also a loss to productivity, families, enterprises, and the national economy,” said Mr Kunaka.
Mr Kunaka also argued that compiling the data should be seen in a wider light.
“The compilation and dissemination of social security and occupational injury statistics should therefore be viewed not merely as a reporting function, but as a strategic investment in national development,” he said.
The figures, drawn from the 2025 report, come as the national rate has turned upwards, ending a three-year decline and raising fresh questions about industrial safety in a country where the state pension fund is also the main insurer against job-related accidents.
NSSA recorded 4 200 workplace injuries nationwide in 2025, equal to 4,3 injured workers per 1 000 insured workers.
The rate was 4,1 in 2024, the lowest in the decade, and the 2025 reading is the first year-on-year increase since 2021.
The uptick in the national average is small, but it interrupts a long improvement.
The national rate stood at 6,6 in 2016 and fell to 4,9 by 2018. Since then it has moved in a narrow band, easing to 4,2 in 2023 and 4,1 in 2024.
The 2025 figure is about 35 percent below the 2016 level, but the pace of improvement has slowed sharply.
NSSA calculates the incidence rate by dividing the number of injured individuals by the number of insured individuals and multiplying by 1000.
The 2025 figures imply an insured base of roughly 980 000 workers, a number derived from the published ratio.
The national average conceals wide differences, and it is these gaps that point to the high-risk areas Mr Kunaka said the data should help identify.
Bulawayo, the city that built Zimbabwe’s industrial base, last year recorded the country’s highest workplace injury rate: 10,5 injuries per 1000 insured workers, more than double the national average of 4,3.
The figures put the spotlight on a city whose factories once defined Zimbabwe’s economy.
Mutare followed Bulawayo at 8,2 per 1000 insured workers, then Gweru at 7,2 and Chinhoyi at 5,5.
Masvingo recorded 3,6, and Harare, the capital and largest commercial centre, posted the lowest rate at 2,4.
The data did not explain the regional gaps or the 2025 increase. Possible factors include industry mix, enforcement intensity and reporting practices.
Bulawayo is Zimbabwe’s historic manufacturing hub, while Mutare and Gweru have significant mining and industrial activity.
Harare’s lower figure may also reflect a workforce weighted towards services and administration, though the NSSA presentation by the Authority’s research and schemes planning manager, Dr Nicola Yon, did not address this.
Bulawayo’s place at the top of the injury table is notable given its history.
The railway reached the city in 1897, linking it to Cape Town, and the town gained municipal status the same year.
The rail connection turned it into the region’s main transport and commercial hub, with factories producing textiles, tyres, building materials, metal products and later motor vehicles.
Bulawayo became a city in 1943 and, after the Second World War, an industrial powerhouse whose output peaked during the Federal years as new markets opened in Malawi and Zambia, according to published accounts of the city’s history.
Notably, NSSA’s only fully-fledged rehabilitation centre is based in Bulawayo.
NSSA general manager Dr Charles Shava made a similar case, stressing the financial stakes for the insurer and for employers. Injury and disease statistics, Dr Shava said, “remain a critical barometer of workplace safety and worker well-being.”
“Behind every injury, disability or occupational illness lies a human story, often involving pain, loss of income, diminished productivity and significant socio-economic consequences for families and communities,” he said.
He tied safer workplaces directly to the bottom line. Dr Shava said: “Ultimately, better occupational safety outcomes translate into healthier workers, improved productivity, reduced compensation costs and enhanced national economic performance.”
The authority said it would continue to use the data to direct its programmes.
“By systematically analysing occupational injury and disease trends, we can identify high-risk sectors, occupations and workplace practices that require targeted interventions,” Dr Shava said, adding that “the authority remains resolute in its mandate to foster a culture of prevention, safety and social security across all sectors of the economy.”
The 2025 report also covers the insured labour force, benefits administration, rehabilitation services, occupational safety and health activities, and investment performance.
The findings arrive as Zimbabwe pursues its Vision 2030 development agenda, which Mr Kunaka said depends on “reliable and timely statistics.”
