Degradation of health and safety a crisis

THE Federation of Unions of South Africa (Fedusa) remains deeply concerned about ongoing unsafe working environments across the country.

While South Africa may have worldclass legislation, making it mandatory for businesses and places of work to have safe and healthy environments for workers, regular and blatant flouting of these regulations have become the order of the day.

The government must acknowledge that it has blood on its hands – it 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 has had a dismal response time in restoring 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 claims, ignoring the fact that many cases go unclaimed due to exploitative practices.

Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi outlined in his Report on the State of Occupational Health and Safety, on July 28 last year, that 92 fatalities were recorded, a total of 26 073 claims were submitted to the Compensation Fund and disbursements amounting to just under R90 million were issued. Cry the beloved country!

Fedusa urges the government to consider the degradation of health and occupational safety as a crisis that must be addressed with conviction.

Urgent interventions and stringent enforcement, by the strengthening of regulatory entities, and, where appropriate, adapting laws and regulations to make it easier to prevent abuse must be implemented without fear or favour.

Fedusa further calls on business to proactively clean up its act and stop creating dangerous environments for workers in the pursuit of excessive profits.