The Sunday Mail
Howdy folks! We meet again in the inviolability of yet another Sunday. And what do I hear from a distance, as I tread on my horse… fading echoes of toiling workers, snivelling – Mayday, Mayday! Workers whose workplaces are now death places.
Seventy-one, the National Social Security Authority says, died in the first eight months of last year!
These woke up early in the morning on those fateful respective days, sang in the shower like humans do, kissed their wives goodbye, and hurried to clock in at their workplaces.
Forlornly, little did they know that they were not going to make it back home alive, as fate would have it otherwise – for they met their untimely demise, much to the annoyance of their families.
Some of those who were lucky to escape death during the same period got away with injuries, talk of grievous bodily harm with permanent injury.
A whopping 3 600 were injured at their workplaces in the first eight months of last year, that’s Nssa again!
All this thanks to the unsafe workplaces prevalent countrywide.
That our workplaces are very unsafe and unhealthy is not something to debate about, as our country’s Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR), which is an indicator of how safe and healthy workplaces are, can prove beyond reasonable doubt.
A workplace with a high LTIFR (of one and above) is deemed to be unsafe.
Nssa has found the 2014 edition of LTIFR to be an abysmal 2,27, which is way above the standard of one or less.
What else can we expect when only 18 percent of local companies have an occupational, health and safety (OHS) policy?
The rest are death traps!
In that case, dying or getting injured is something to expect, and workers are dicing with their lives every day they go to work. Heads up workers – going back home unhurt is a miracle, if your workplace forms the majority of companies that don’t have OHS policy.
All management gurus are in agreement that employees are the most valuable resource of any organisation.
Shouldn’t that value be reflected in the workplaces they spend a third of their day?
It is the right of every person to have the opportunity of fulfilling and dignified work under safe and healthy conditions.
This is one of the fundamental socio-economic rights guaranteed in our sacrosanct Constitution.
Despite the above, OHS policies appear to be a waste of money and time to many employers.
Perhaps they hide in Nssa’s saying that 88 percent of accidents at the workplace are attributable to human error.
But, hey, we cowboys have an adage that says: “Never drive black cattle in the dark.” Even the Bible says, “My people perish because of lack of knowledge.”
Accidents at the workplace can, therefore, not be largely blamed on human error.
Workers are prone to make mistakes where they have not been taught about safety, and where the work environment is not conducive.
We have the highest literacy rate in Africa, and that should make it easier to implement OHS policies.
Sadly, 82 percent of companies don’t have such indispensable policies.
So, it bounces back in the employers’ court!
Workers must never compromise on their safety and health at workplaces. They must demand to be provided with appropriate induction, training and monitoring with a view to ensuring potential hazards are checkmated.
It is also their duty to recommend ways to eliminate or ameliorate risks arising from hazards at the workplaces.
It is also important to give urgent priority to employees who get involved in accidents at workplaces.
A report by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare on Nssa operations has said that the process of claiming invalidity and injury benefits is long and tedious, in view of the fact that victims require immediate medical attention.
Further, the committee established that the invalidity pension can only be accessed when a contributor is totally incapable of working due to disability or illness.
This is really unfair.
Again, I agreed with the recommendation of the committee that the retirement age should be rationalised from the current 55-60 to 45-50, since life expectancy has declined in the country, resulting in many workers dying without enjoying their pension benefits.
A study by Daphne Jena and myself on youth unemployment — published in the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung journal — also established that Sadc member states should “reduce the age of retirement by five years” to address the unemployment situation in the country, which has seen youths bearing the brunt.
Reducing the retirement age will ensure unemployed youths get jobs.
Most retirees acquired assets, which can give them reasonable income to get by, coupled with their pensions.
However, unemployed youths usually don’t have any source of income and are, therefore, eventually compelled to deviant, criminal and other anti-social behaviours.
But, I don’t want to forget how workplaces ought to be brought up to spec, and making sure health and safety are given priority.
No worker should die or get injured at the workplace.
Nssa must be alarmed by this high LTIFR and take urgent measures to make sure workplaces are not death places.
And oh, it’s World Water Day today.
Did you know that the Constitution says that you have a right to safe, clean and potable water?
And, please, don’t forget to remember to bathE – at least just for the sake of today.
Well, let me get on my horse now — got chapel not to miss.
