The Department of Labour (DoL), organised labour and business today signed a ground breaking Chemical Sector Health and Safety Accord to improve the status of occupational health and safety (OHS) in the chemical sector in South Africa.
Speaking at the Chemical Sector Health and Safety Accord’s signing ceremony held in Irene, Gauteng Province, Director-General of Department of Labour, Nkosinathi Nhleko said to achieve safety in workplaces, it was imperative to ensure that “we regulate better”. Nhleko called upon all social partners to play a collaborative role in the coordination and implementation of health and safety campaigns in the workplace.
“We should not cooperate for the sake of co-operating. We need campaigns to ensure effective mobilisation. The question of safety is not what the government will do, but what we must all do. Social partners need to drive a level of consciousness on matters of health and safety in their workplaces. All parties should be on the lookout for best practices to implement.
“The extent of the success of this Accord will reflect in the number of injuries and diseases workers sustain at work. Also, if safety is not our priority, the public purse as managed by the Compensation Fund will be under pressure to meet the undue claims. By signing the Accord as government, we express our commitment to ensure safe working environments free of diseases and hazards,” said Nhleko.
Today’s Chemical Sector Health and Safety Accord was signed by the Department of Labour, the Chemical and Allied Industry Association; SA Paint Manufacturers Association; COSATU; FEDUSA; SA Pesticides Control Association; Cosmetic, Toiletries and Fragrances Association; NACTU and Solidarity.
The aim of the accord is prioritising matters of occupational health and safety, eliminate fatalities, injuries and diseases in the chemical sector and to identify and implement best practices. The Accord also aims to raise awareness and promote industry initiatives focused on continual improvement of occupational health and safety in the chemical sector.
The accord will be implemented through development of a joint action plan.
"rom that moment we took a conscience decision that in an attempt to enforce safety we will take the sectoral approach. We started with the Construction Industry Health and Safety Accord, and followed up with the Iron and Steel Health and Safety Accord. The idea is to focus on each sector and so that our health and safety initiatives are tailor-made to suit specific industries. A once-fit all approach does not work,” Lamati said.
DoL’s Director: Occupational Health and Hygiene (OHH) Milly Ruiters said the Chemical Sector has a long way to go to address the number of casualties in the country. Ruiters said the Compensation Fund handled in 20 375 claims in 2010/11 financial year and there were some pay-outs of R32 203 million made to claimants.
Ruiters said the prominent areas of non-compliance relate to environmental regulations for workplaces; the OHS Act, general administrative regulations; and hazardous chemical substances regulations.
She lamented that while there was a high non-compliance in the Chemical Sector, workers were also not informed and lacked training on how to deal with hazardous substances, “this is alarming”. She said there was a clear obligation for government, labour and business to deal with safety in the sector as a matter of urgency.
“We need to put risk control procedures in place. Risk management is not our sole responsibility, but industry also has role to minimise risks. It is important for us all to come together to reduce and eliminate injuries. The signing of Accord is one of steps to reduce injuries in the sector,” she said.
Business Unity South Africa committed itself to using the Accord as a basis for co-operation with other social partners to build safe work places. The business association said this partnership would build a basis for compilation of accurate data from Compensation Fund and establish a baseline to gauge progress on implementation of occupational health and safety.
Busa called for joint plans of action, development of joint reports and scheduling of regular meetings.
Bosole Chidi, Sacwu National Organiser warned that the signing of the Accord should not be about empty speeches of commitment, but that there need to be outcomes that would benefit the workers.
