adminserious workplace injuries and 90 deaths were recorded. The National Social Security Authority’s Occupational Safety and Health division does its best to help prevent such accidents by holding occupational safety workshops to educate employees and employers on occupational safety and health issues.
It also inspects factories to ensure they comply with health and safety legislation.
It endeavours to encourage employers to uphold high standards of safety and health.
Each year it awards prizes to companies that are judged the best in this regard in different regions of the country.
NSSA’s occupational safety and health division has four departments, namely the factory and works inspectorate, occupational health services, occupational safety and health promotion and training, and research and development.
The factory inspectorate’s objective is to ensure that all workplace facilities, installations, equipment and machinery comply with laid down statutory provisions.
No factory in Zimbabwe should operate without written approval from the factory inspectorate. The factory inspectorate is also responsible for approving the construction and installation of boilers and pressure vessels.
These can be dangerous and so there is need for approval to safeguard against the possibility of their exploding and killing people. They need to be inspected every year.
Deaths have occurred because of the explosion of improvised boilers on some new farms.
The inspectorate is also responsible for ensuring the safety of lifts and escalators.
In addition, the factory inspectorate is also required to certify the competency of persons appointed to be responsible for machinery and equipment safety as legally prescribed.
The occupational health services department’s main objective is to maintain and monitor comprehensive occupational health service programmes according to set international standards and the law. It has to ensure compliance with set standards in occupational health services as well as establish an accurate database on the occupational health status of workplaces for use in occupational health management. It is responsible for the surveillance of occupational diseases and conditions. It is this department that processes medical certificates of fitness (red cards for dusty occupations) through a Medical Bureau.
In addition it monitors and registers all industrial clinics. It is responsible for detecting occupational diseases before they become fatal.
The occupational safety and health promotion and training department plays a crucial role in promoting safety and health at work.
Its major role is to impart knowledge on health and safety issues at work to employees and employers to ensure that safety and health risks are minimised. It is this department that helps industry to establish safety and health committees.The application of the law to ensure safety and health is considered as a last resort. NSSA would prefer to educate employers and employees and encourage them to do what is required, which is why the educational work of this department is so critical.
The department’s objective is to help industrial and other establishments to identify, develop and implement effective occupational health and safety management systems to prevent occupational disabling injuries and other loss making events.
This is done through health and safety awareness campaigns, health and safety surveys or assessments, as well as through offering training for management and employees on courses that are tailor-made for their particular circumstances. The department offers some standard courses on occupational safety, health and the environment and on occupational safety and health, as well as courses conducted at workplaces. It is also ready to assist companies with putting occupational safety and health management systems in place.
Companies that do not know how to draft safety and health policies can approach the department for assistance.
The department promotes dialogue between an employer and employees over safety and health issues through safety and health committees. The idea of these committees is to share responsibility for occupational safety and health between employers and employees.
Occupational safety and health programmes help strengthen the national economic base through a healthier and safer workforce.
They also help improve management of industrial activities with regard to productivity, efficiency and effective control of loss factors.
The research and development department is tasked with keeping occupational safety and health practices relevant at all times.
It looks at what changes or adjustments in safety and health at workplaces might be necessary in the light of new technology.
It researches methods of ensuring effective safety and health delivery in the workplace.
One of its major objectives is to create and maintain a scientific database of information on occupational hazards associated with Zimbabwean workplaces.
It also establishes occupational safety and health standards with regard to exposure limits for known workplace stresses.
Key activities include identifying, evaluating and determining appropriate control measures for workplace hazards.
The department also compiles and interprets statistical information to assist in the national planning of relevant occupational safety and health activities.
l Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service. Readers can e-mail issues they would like dealt with in this column to [email protected] or text them to 0735 041 278. Those with individual queries should contact their local NSSA office or telephone NSSA on (04) 706517-8 or 706523-5.
The efforts of all four departments are directed towards preventing or at least minimising the chances of injuries, deaths and diseases arising from work and the working environment.
Talking Social Security is published weekly by the National Social Security Authority as a public service.
Readers can e-mail issues they would like dealt with in this column to [email protected] or text them to 0735 041 278. Those with individual queries should contact their local NSSA office or telephone NSSA on (04) 706517-8 or 706523-5.
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