Federation calls for safer working conditions

THE Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa) has said it is concerned about unsafe working conditions.

The union says that while South Africa has world-class legislation that makes it mandatory for businesses and places of work to have safe and healthy environments for workers, regular and blatant flouting of these regulations has become the order of the day.

The federation said that over the last decade, corruption had become more rampant, with many of the government’s oversight bodies being undermined for nefarious reasons, thus limiting its own ability to enforce regulations and ensure safe workspaces.

“The recent flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, in particular, has shown how many businesses have not built environments that are secure to work in during adverse weather events, leading to avoidable death and destruction,” the union said.

Moreover, the union said that the effects of global climate change, pandemics and various other crises continue to impact the country with increasing regularity, and it is more important than ever that a renewed focus is placed on occupational health and safety in workplaces across the country.

Fedusa said that the government should acknowledge that it has blood on its hands and has exacerbated job losses, income insecurity, destruction of infrastructure, collapse of businesses, stalled economic growth, failed to protect school-going children who are faced with catch-up programmes due to Covid-19, and a dismal response time to restore service delivery.

“Beyond large crises like the pandemic or floods, hearing loss, tuberculosis and hazardous chemical exposure-related diseases remain the top causes of occupational disease claims, ignoring the many cases that go unclaimed due to exploitative practices,” said Fedusa.

“Cry, the beloved country!” added Fedusa.