talks
4 May 2006
Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana has welcomed the willingness of
security employers and the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union
(Satawu) to return to the negotiating table to resolve the two-month long wage
strike.
Minister Mdladlana was addressing the World Day for Health and Safety at
Work celebrations in Tzaneen, Limpopo Province, today (Thursday).
âOnce they get into that negotiating room, we must lock the door and throw
away the key to ensure that they do not come out until they find a solution,â
he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister has announced plans that could see the country
drastically reducing the alarming rate of farm work-related fatalities, which
are a world-wide phenomenon.
He said a pilot project, involving both farm workers and their employers,
was already being conducted in the Western and Northern Cape provinces and was
aimed at eliminating or controlling hazards in agricultural working
environment.
Through the project, the Department will partner the Primary Agriculture
Education and Training Authority in facilitating training of certain workers on
health and safety issues with the hope of increasing the levels of compliance
with occupational and safety requirements.
The training will focus on, among others, enabling workers to identify
hazards and in correct use of protective clothing in their work
environment.
âTo ensure that workers in the agricultural sector are protected and to
build capacity for the effective service delivery and to promote health and
safety within the sector, my Department had to train 40 inspectors with a view
to undertaking preventative actions, education and, where necessary ,
enforcement of control measures,â Minister Mdladlana said.
These measures would promote co-operation between government and the farming
communities at large, while ensuring that workers participate in the
decision-making on issues affecting their health and safety.
Quoting the International Labour Organisation estimates that at least 170
000 agriculture workers are killed every year, the Minister said this meant
that workers in the industry run at least twice the risk of dying on the job as
compared with workers in other sectors.
Due to the widespread under-reporting of deaths, injuries and occupational
diseases in agriculture, the real picture of the occupational health and safety
of farm workers was likely to be worse than what official statistics
indicated.
The world-wide celebrations were first held on 28 May 1996.
Enquiries: Mokgadi Pela
Cell: 082 808 2168
Issued by: Department of Labour
4 May 2006
