The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) has made a damning claim that 34% of top managers in the construction sector have no training in health and safety.
This was made at the signing ceremony of the Construction Health and safety accord hosted by the department of Labour in Boksburg, Gauteng on Friday.
Peter Bailey, National Chairperson of the NUM’s Health and Safety unit, said “this lack of training on the part of management compromises health and safety in the workplace because there is no doubt that health and safety should be at the epicenter of any company’s strategy. It is important to develop and implement a training programme for the inspectorate, unions and management at all levels”.
Bailey said that 33% of the workforce in the sector lacks health and safety training.
He said “The inspectorate will have challenges in enforcing the law because they deal with people without sufficient knowledge on importance of health and safety in the work place and outside work environment. The good example is in Chile where students take about two years doing practical work as part of their tertiary studies”.
He said “We agree that the sector must establish relationships with institutes of higher learning to address the training gaps. Trade unions and employers must develop health and safety training manuals that will be used for health and safety induction to all employees. The long term objective should be to develop school of excellence for accredited courses for construction sector. That will help in providing skills for the sector and country”.
Pierre Fourie, Operations’ Director at Master Builders South Africa (MBSA) said his organisation was regularly giving advice to its practicing members on side to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities in the sector. He said MBSA took a special interest in the drafting of health and safety accord.
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National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) raises red flag about health and safety in the construction field
