01 May 2023

Building an occupational health and safety culture requires all stakeholders to play a role in ensuring that the working environment is conducive for workers, and in extension, the country’s economic growth.

Speaking at the commemoration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work in Jwaneng on Friday, the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Ms Annah Mokgethi said even though Botswana was yet to ratify the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) conventions, her ministry had prioritised the development of an OHS policy intended to strengthen social dialogue on safety and health issues.

She underscored the need for stakeholders to actively participate in ensuring that workers’ rights were respected by ensuring a safe and healthy environment for effective productivity.

 “A national occupational safety and health culture is one in which the right to a safe and healthy working environment is respected at all levels, where governments, employers and workers actively participate in securing a safe and healthy working environment through a system of defined rights, responsibilities and duties, and where the highest priority is accorded to the principle of prevention,” she said.

The minister said occupational injuries and illnesses did not only affect workers and their families, but also had adverse effects on the national economy due to production losses, healthcare costs and compensation costs, among others.

Consequently, she said the commemoration, through the theme ‘A Safe and Healthy Working Environment Is a Fundamental Principle and Right at Work’, called for the country to introspect on strides made in ensuring a safe and healthy environments for workers.

“Essentially, this is a day to direct attention to the world’s governments, including the Botswana, workers and employers’ organisations to the common agenda, which is the prevention of work-related accidents, work-related disabilities and work-related deaths. It compels us to introspect as a country on what we are doing to safeguard the safety and health of our citizens in their various places of work,” she noted.

Ms Mokgethi applauded workers’ federations, the Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) and Botswana Federation of Public, Private and Parastatal Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU), for their role in continually advancing the rights of workers in the workplace.

For his part, BFTU secretary general, Mr Thusang Butale said there was  need for formulation of policies that enhanced social dialogue on issues of safety and health in the workplace. He also called on government to ratify the ILO Conventions 155 and 187, which collectively set out principles for the establishment of a systems approach and management of health and safety issues in the workplace.

He noted that a high number of workers across the world lost their lives due to unsafe working environments, while more lived with disabilities and injuries as a result of such. He regretted that most organisations only appreciated the importance of occupational health and safety during the COVID 19 pandemic. “Action needs to be taken to protect workers who are forced to choose between their lives and making a living. No one should die because they are trying to make a living,” he said.

Mr Onyebo Mafoko of BOFEPUSU said the absence of a national OSH policy and related instruments created a loophole for organisations to disregard workers safety rights in the workplace.

“The absence of such instruments that are directed to protecting workers at work is a regressing movement that denies employees their fundamental right with respect to occupational and health safety,” he noted.

He said workers were a fundamental resource for any organisation or country, hence their safety and health needed to be prioritised for effective development.

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic should be used as a learning point to close gaps that were exposed in health and safety in the workplace.

A representative of Business Botswana, Mr Julius Sebako, called on relevant partners to join hands in ensuring the ILO conventions were effectively implemented for an improved and strengthened occupational health and safety culture in Botswana.

He appreciated government’s efforts in funding young people to pursue OHS courses in an endeavour to enhance safety and health in workplaces.

He also noted that even though there was still need for more improvement, various organisations had made strides in ensuring a safe working environment for their employees. “We continue to observe an increased demand for OHS and SHE officers in our country, and this is a sign that we are improving,” he said. Ends