Five sectors of employment have the highest risks when it comes to workplace health and safety, a labour executive said in Vryheid on Tuesday.
KwaZulu-Natal labour department’s acting provincial executive manager Edward Khambula said the iron and steel, construction, agriculture, food, drink and beverage sectors had the highest number of accidents in South Africa.
”Industries from these sectors were the four main contributors to the 47% of reported workplace injuries and fatalities received by the inspectorate of the department,” he said.
Khambula emphasised workers’ rights to raise health and safety concerns with labour inspectors and said inspectors relied on the cooperation between employees and employers in the fight to reduce the high rate of workplace accidents and fatalities.
Delegates from major trade union federations — the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Confederation of Trade Unions (Sacotu) — were urged to elect health and safety representatives and form committees to analyse, monitor and voice their concerns about safety conditions at work with their employers.
”We urge workers to be more vigilant and report any unsafe working condition to their nearest labour centre for investigation by the department,” Khambula said.
He warned of the department’s strategy to conduct focused inspections in these high-risk sectors.
”Inspectors will not hesitate to recommend prosecution, should an employer be found to blatantly disregard the obligation of providing a healthy and safe working environment to all his/her workers.” – Sapa