Story by Tichaona Kurewa
THE National Social Security Authority (NSSA) Safety and Health at the Workplace Conference kicked off in Victoria Falls this Wednesday, with stakeholders concurring that the platform has significantly improved health and safety at the workplace.
NSSA has been actively engaging various stakeholders, including parliamentarians, to improve awareness and understanding of social security matters.
The convening of the Safety and Health at the Workplace Conference compliments other ongoing efforts to address concerns around workplace safety and promote a culture of prevention, which has improved over the years.
“Safety remains one of the topical issues that we think should continuously be looked at and checked. Looking at the fatalities that continue to occur in the country, we have so much belief that these conferences that are happening annually should continue happening because they help us to engage as labour, government and business practitioners within different sectors to deal with, and look at various issues affecting health and safety at the workplace,” said ZTCU president, Ms Florence Taruvinga.
The Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Honourable Mercy Dinha, also said, “This is important for the government because it’s a way of raising awareness to our workers and employers on the safety and health at the workplace.”
NSSA Acting Director for Occupational Health and Safety, Dr Betty Nyereyegona spoke on the ways being implemented by local companies to ensure safe working environments.
“We have seen that most companies in Zimbabwe are now following what we call a systems approach to managing occupational safety and health, which is one of the most effective ways of managing occupational safety and health.
“This platform has also shaped the way our regulation has been going on, and it brings together the regulator together with practitioners from industry,” she said.
Zimbabwe is in the process of amending labour laws through the Occupational Health and Safety Bill to align with global trends.
