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Midlands Bureau
Over 300 engineers from across the country will converge in Kwekwe city next week for a workshop on safety and health at work, an annual event organised by the National Social Security Authority (NSSA) with this year the aim being the ultimate of achieving zero accidents at work.
NSSA’s deputy director responsible for marketing and communication Mr Tendai Mutseyekwa said Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister July Moyo would open the workshop that works out ways of continuing to improve measures to prevent accidents and have better health safety at work.
“The workshop, which has run annually for over 20 years, is held in partial fulfilment of NSSA’s mandate of promoting occupational safety and health. It will run under the theme: Promoting an Occupational Safety and Health Culture Through Vision Zero.
“It is a transformational approach to prevention that integrates the three dimensions of safety, health and well-being at all levels of work. It is based on the assumption that all accidents, harm and work-related ill-health are preventable,” he added. Mr Mutseyekwa said there were also some presenters from Germany who were set to grace the occasion.
“There will be also presentations by speakers from Germany who will speak on “The Vision Zero journey and sustainability of a safe and healthy workplace”, he said.
Mr Mutseyekwa, said this year’s theme was conceived to inculcate a strong culture of accident prevention in the workplace and for employers and employees to appreciate that it is possible to achieve zero occupational accidents, injuries and diseases.
“The workshop will also provide a forum for sharing engineering intervention measures aimed at eliminating work-related accidents and illnesses, as well as environmental damage. It will foster the Vision Zero philosophy through engineering, as well as inculcate a culture of continuous improvement among all stakeholders,” said Mutseyekwa.
Past workshops have facilitated the creation of engineering clusters across the country, which enable engineers to gather at identified high-risk plants, machinery or equipment to proffer safer ways of managing them.
“Such industrial visits culminate in reports being made to the visited companies as part of contributing to their safety and health improvement plan,” he said.
Mr Mutseyekwa said the Engineers’ Workshop will include with a site visit to Dinson Iron and Steel Plant in Manhize to provide participants with a practical appreciation of issues of safety and health at work.
“This year the visit will be to Dinson Steel plant in Manhize, which is expected to commence production during the second quarter of 2024.
“We expect the site visit to provide participants with a myriad of learning opportunities concerning technology and safety-related issues. The plant is important because its opening will have a significant downstream impact on the steel-making industry”, said Mr Mutseyekwa
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