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22 June, 2011The National Engineering Workers Union (NEWU) joined ZCTU to commemorate Health and Safety Day on 6 June 2011, under the theme 'Save Our Rights, Save Our Economy and Our Jobs'.
Zimbabwe: The day started with a March in the capital Harare with comrades singing songs of solidarity to remember the 427 miners who died on 6 June 1972 at Kandamana Coal Mine Shaft No. 2, Hwange in Zimbabwe.
This day is one which all Zimbabwean workers will never forget and such commemorations will continue to revive the spirits of workers that died at work as a result of poor safety standards. Many foreign investors and even some local investors are violating occupational safety and health standards, failing to promote decent work which has resulted in high statistics on injuries, diseases and fatalities at the workplace.
Japhet Moyo, the Acting Secretary General of the ZCTU and the General Secretary of NEWU, spoke of the impact of poor safety standards at work on the lives of workers and their families. Every year, more than 2 million women and men in the world die as a result of work-related accidents and diseases. Across the globe, there are some 270 million occupational accidents and 160 million occupational diseases each year. These are not just numbers, behind each affected worker is a story of suffering that in almost all cases could be prevented.
In Zimbabwe, work accidents are on the rise. In 2009 there were 3122 injuries and 64 fatalities registered and they increased in 2010 to 4410 registered fatalities with 90 being fatal. This increase shows a lack of observance of OHS protocols and systems in line with the 2006 ILO Convention 187.
In Zimbabwe's metal sector, workers suffer can suffer from serious respiratory and skin ailments from exposure to fluids that are used extensively for lubricating and cooling during machining, contact with used fluids or inhalation of fine mist produced during processing.
There are not only risk and hazards in the formal sector; workers in the informal sector are also subjected to poor working environments, low safety and health standards and environmental hazards. However the National Social Security Services Authority (NSSA) has turned a blind eye to the needs of this vital sector.
The NSSA has also discriminated against the trade union fraternity on the right to compensation. The authority rejected claims from On September 13 in 2006, trade unionists injured or permanently disabled as a result of the police brutality unleashed on them at the 13 September 2006 ZCTU national protest.
Workers must make demands to ensure they are provided with adequate protective equipment. Employers also must put in place serious initiatives to create a safe working environment. Government must also play their role to ensure safety requirements are met and to move towards the direction of social security reforms as part for the decent work agenda.
The ZCTU firmly believes that work related accidents and ill health can be prevented through working together as social partners according to occupational safety and health standards.
Moyo said, "Only through effective collaboration can we achieve the aim of decent working conditions in Zimbabwe. Decent work can be only be a reality if we all commit ourselves to the promotion of occupational safety and health at work and the ratification of the ILO Convention 187".
Shinga Mushandi Shinga! Qina Sisebenzi Qina!
Article written by Miriam Chipunza of NEWU.