Prof Mohamed Jeebhay delivers presentation at the South African National Occupational Health and Safety Conference
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Employment and Labour Minister calls for safe and healthy workplaces
by lloyd — last modified 2019-07-25 17:12
25 July 2019
Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi, has called for the collaboration between his department and social partners towards the creation of a “Vision Zero” – a workplace free of accidents and diseases.
The Minister was addressing about 1 000 delegates at the Occupational health and safety conference at Emperors Palace, Gauteng. He said business and organised labour have key roles to play to achieve the Vision Zero.
“We have to work with organised business to ensure compliance and to assist them to act as responsible citizens. This is especially the case in the majority of workplaces – which remain unionised,’’ he said.
The Minister said unions and shop stewards also need to rise to the occasion to safeguard the conditions of their members and to report non-compliance. “That also means inspectors have to respond timeously and effectively to compliance”, he said. The Minister said it was crucial for inspectors to be adequately capacitated to provide the services the Department offers.
He said achieving Vision Zero means moving towards a trained health and safety officer in every workplace. In high-risk sectors – such as mining and construction – this has assisted in reducing the statistics for injuries and fatalities.
The Department, through the Chief Directorate for Occupational Health and Safety provides a suite of services, which can be tailored to individual sectoral needs. These include:
• To develop and amend regulations, policies and guidelines
• To work with stakeholders and to provide training
• To conduct specialised inspection and incident investigation as required
• To administer special projects – such as the Iron and Steel project, and
• Most importantly to train Inspectors – including technically specialised Inspectors for specific sectors.
The Minister said: “We require OHS inspectors of a high calibre who have been fully trained and are fully operational to service the clients of the Department through the OHS Act and its 21 Regulations and numerous incorporated Standards. The OHS Inspector will need to display competence in the following areas: qualifications, knowledge, skills and the right attitude and passion towards the work that he/she has applied for – together with the requisite experience. And of course, the level of inspection will vary from the highly technical to the more general OHS issues. There is a specific role to support and advise SMMEs where resources are more limited – but compliance is still required”.
Department of Employment and Labour Director-General, Thobile Lamati said not much has been done to prepare people for 4th industrial revolution. He asked the question, “How do we respond to new risks and opportunities brought about by 4th industrial revolution?” Lamati said health and safety was not about safety management systems but, “about duty of care”.
Lamati said inspector’s responsibilities were misunderstood. When incidents happen people ask where were inspectors? He said inspectors cannot be expected at each and every workplace.
The Director-General said over the years the Department has observed that self-regulation does not work. He said the intention has been to focus on sectors that do not have systems. He said the amended OHS Bill would be prescriptive. He also said in the amended OHS Bill for the first time workers would refuse to work in dangerous work environments. He said there will also be a push for the passing of the bill into an Act this year.
Lamati said inspectors have a responsibility to ensure that labour legislation should not be an exercise in ethics, “But it actually works”. He said there was a need to establish a credible labour inspection system – and this was vital to ensuring of safe work environments and decent work.
He said the Department has expectations of an effective labour inspection that faces the challenges of the labour market.
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Department of Employment and Labour to employ 500 OHS inspectors to deal with health and safety in workplaces
by lloyd — last modified 2019-07-25 11:48
24 July 2019
The Department of Employment and Labour is on the verge of employing 500 occupational health and safety (OHS) inspectors, in a move that will have major change in the workplaces, said Department’s Chief Inspector, Tibor Szana.
Szana said this major change would require of the Department of Employment and Labour to broaden its scope of work by also focusing on the small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and the informal sector.
“In the next 10 years health and hygiene will never be the same. We are clear what we are about to do. When we look back this will be a major turning point. We will be leveraging on the use of technologies to fulfil our objectives,” Szana said.
Szana was speaking during the first day of the Department of Employment and Labour’s occupational health and safety conference.
The conference ends on Friday (26 July 2019). It is being held at the Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni, Gauteng Province. The theme of the conference is: “Strategic co-operation to promote decent work and achieve ‘Vision Zero’ in occupational injuries and diseases”.
“We are doing all these to prepare for challenges that will be posed by the fourth industrial revolution,” Szana said the world will never be the same and it is changing.
Szana said the health and safety profession was on the throes of major changes. He said there were some 21 regulations governing the health and safety environments and these would be of no value if the high accident environments persist. He said while the world of work is changing, the next 10 years will matter.
Department of Employment and Labour Inspector-General, Aggy Moiloa, delivering the opening address said decent work cannot be achieved without sound, safe and healthy environments. Moiloa said every occupational incident is preventable.
“Workers have a right to work in environment that is not harmful. Decent work cannot be achieved without sound, safe and healthy environment, and when that gets compromised productivity levels suffers,” Moiloa said.
She cautioned that safety should not be done as a ‘by the way’, adding that employers should not be lured by the ‘short cut syndrome’.
The OHS conference continues tomorrow.
Employment and Labour Minister, Thulas Nxesi and Department of Employment and Labour Director-General, Thobile Lamati are expected to address the conference tomorrow (25 July).
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Keynote Address by TW Nxesi MP, Minister of Employment and Labour at the Occupational Health and Safety Conference at Emperors Palace
by lloyd — last modified 2019-07-25 15:30
25 July 2019
Theme: Strategic Cooperation to Promote Decent work and Achieve Vision Zero in Occupational Injuries and Diseases
Objective: to foster a collaborative approach in the achievement of ‘decent employment through inclusive economic growth’
Protocol:
• Programme Director
• DM
• DG, Commissioners and Senior Management of the Department
• Representatives of Labour, Employers and officials of other government departments
• Invited speakers, academics and experts in your respective fields
• Most importantly, the Inspector General and inspectors
• Ladies and gentlemen
"I am honoured to participate in this important event. The promotion of legislation and regulation of Occupational Health and Safety – and implementation through inspection and enforcement – in collaboration with the social partners - remains a vital mandate of the Department of Employment and Labour. And the renaming of the Department does not change that in the least.
[I will return at the end of my remarks to briefly speak on the wider implications of the renaming and reconfiguration of the Department.]
OHS – and a healthy and safe working environment - is an important part of what we mean when we speak of decent jobs – which is so well-captured in the theme and objective of the Conference [and here I mean ‘captured’ in a good way.]
That is why inspectors must be adequately capacitated to provide the services the Department offers. I had said in the Budget Vote that we are committed to appointing an additional 200 contract workers and an additional 500 Occupational Health and Safety inspectors.
But, of course, that was before the news from the National Treasury of across-the-board departmental budget cuts. I would like to stick with our original targets and we will need a more detailed report from officials on where they will make savings and contain costs.
But of course the Department – with these finite resources – cannot achieve its mandate on its own. Again the need for collaboration and cooperation with social partners is well-reflected in the theme and objective of the Conference.
We have to work with organised business to ensure compliance and to assist them to act as responsible corporate citizens. This is especially the case in the majority of workplaces - which remain un-unionised.
Unions and shop stewards also need to rise to the occasion – to safeguard the conditions of their members – and to report non-compliance. That also means that our inspectors have to respond timeously and effectively to complaints.
By the way, I have also paid tribute to the media where they have exposed unsafe workplaces and accidents which have gone unreported – so that the injured or diseased worker does not receive compensation. Again, in these kind of cases, it is vital that the Department responds quickly. It is about the plight of those individual workers and the fact that their rights have been violated – but it is also about the credibility of this Department – that it is seen to be responsive and effective.
The Department needs to work with the social partners towards the objective of ‘Vision Zero’. And I believe a part of this is to move towards a trained health and safety officer in every workplace. In high-risk sectors – such as mining and construction – this has assisted in reducing the statistics for injuries and fatalities. [Indeed, I remember you worked closely with one of the entities of the Department of Public Works - the SACP-CMP – to accredit Health and Safety professionals in the construction sector. In fact, I can share with you that the first time I heard of the SACP-CMP I thought it must be some branch of the South African Communist Party. Of course it stands for the SA Council for the Project and Construction Management Professions.]
The Department, through the Chief Directorate for Occupational Health and Safety provides a suite of services, which can be tailored to individual sectoral needs. These include:
• To develop and amend regulations, policies and guidelines
• To work with stakeholders and to provide training
• To conduct specialized inspection and incident investigation as required
• To administer special projects – such as the Iron and Steel project, and
• Most importantly to train Inspectors – including technically specialised Inspectors for specific sectors.
We require OHS inspectors of a high calibre who have been fully trained and are fully operational to service the clients of the Department through the OHS Act and its 21 Regulations and numerous incorporated Standards.
The OHS Inspector will need to display competence in the following areas: qualifications, knowledge, skills and the right attitude and passion towards the work that he/she has applied for – together with the requisite experience. And of course the level of inspection will vary from the highly technical to the more general OHS issues. There is a specific role to support and advise SMMEs where resources are more limited – but compliance is still required.
OHS looks at compliance in the first instance. But ultimately we are looking to put in place safety management systems which are self-sustainable – so OHS is not simply reactive and a matter of ticking boxes – but it becomes a way of life.
This also implies that, to work in OHS, means that the Inspector is engaged in a process of life-long learning – as conditions change. I see that your programme – as well as addressing highly specialised sectoral challenges – is also asking the big questions about the ‘Future of Work’ and the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, as well as climate change and the need to reduce our carbon footprint – in the process giving birth to a host of new green industries and jobs with very different health and safety profiles.
It is vital that as a Department, as the Inspectorate – and with the social partners – we are researching and debating these likely scenarios – and the implications for the world of work, including health and safety. We must not see these developments in purely technical terms – but ask what are the implications for individual workers and their families? And this Department needs to work with the other relevant departments and agencies to devise training and employment strategies which complement and mitigate the impact of technological change.
By the same token, we also need to start exploring the greater use of technology by inspectors to expand the scope of their operations.
We need to be asking ourselves constantly: do we need to review the OHS Act and the mode of implementation in the light of changing conditions?
• There are increasing gaps between the formal sector, SMMEs and informal sector – in terms of compliance
• Inspectors are mostly located at the Provincial Office level – how do we make ourselves felt at local level – through the Labour Centres and the additional – almost 500 - contact and visiting points
• We need to put in place a fully-functioning national case management system
• The Future of Work and the impact of technology I have mentioned, and
• Of course, in the present constrained fiscal atmosphere, we will have to ask ourselves: how do we achieve more with less?
Self-regulation was an approach originally introduced in 1993 – with mixed results. So it cannot stand alone – we will always need to inspect and enforce laws and regulations. But it is clear – and here the Advocacy function of the IES Brach comes to the fore – it is essential that the social partners – in the workplace – cooperate to ensure a safe and healthy environment. It is in everyone’s interest – certainly in the interests of workers who are at risk – but also in the interests of employers: accidents and poor health undermine productivity and the bottom line.
So the task becomes: to create the correct environment to allow affected parties to resolve their own problems – but obviously within a common legal and regulatory framework, with training and support – and with a Brexit-style backstop in the form of the Inspectorate. By the way, a system of workplace inspection is also an ILO requirement.
The IES Branch cannot be effective without the necessary tools and support including the following:
• Transport and trained human resources
• Relevant policy and legislation which addresses changing conditions
• As I mentioned before – a national case management system that supports the work of the Inspectorate which will provide relevant and real time information, eliminate duplication and facilitate proper planning and supervision.
• Also as part of the ILO (International Labour Organisation), we are required to develop the appropriate policy frameworks to support every Agreement or Convention signed. Let us remember that this year the International Labour Conference adopted an agreement that Occupational Health and Safety be elevated to a fundamental principle and right to guide the future work of the ILO and member states. This certainly enhances the authority of OHS and those entrusted with its implementation.
• We want collaboration between all social partners, but until that ideal world comes into being, the IES Branch will need to closely engage with prosecutors and magistrates to ensure that enforcement is a reality. Decent work requires accountability.
These measures would help address challenges that have been identified, including:
• The need to share data with other Branches and Funds within the Department, as well as with other stakeholders. This would be assisted by implementation of a case management system – as well as through the many Memoranda of Understanding the DEL has entered into (eg with SETAs, departments, health and safety bodies etc) ;
• Weak enforcement of compliance with labour legislation. Closer relations with prosecutors and magistrates would assist here; and
• The need for greater visibility of labour inspection work in the media – which speaks to the need for a Communication Plan. My Department has taken a decision to strengthen our Communications arm even further. This will go a long way in helping our visibility course.
It is difficult to give an overview of OHS inspection and enforcement because of the sheer complexity by sector, province and type of inspection. But a crude approximation would be as follows:
• Approximately 25,000 OHS inspections are conducted per year currently
• One third of workplaces were found to be non-compliant
• With approximately 1% resulting in court referrals
• Of incidents reported, the majority of these are investigated within 90 days.
Interventions to improve on this include the following:
• Continuous training of inspectors on enforcement
• Continuous engagement with stakeholders such as NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) and CCMA.
• Advocacy and information sessions with employers, employer representatives, employees and unions.
Before I conclude, I said I would say a few words on the reconfiguration/renaming of the Department of Employment and Labour: so what does it all mean?
• First, it is important to emphasise that the core mandate of the Department of Labour does not change:
o to develop and enforce policies to create safe, equitable and transformed workplaces and decent work; and now to enforce the National Minimum Wage, as well as
o to promote healthy labour relations and social dialogue.
• The insertion of the word ‘Employment’ into the title of the Department flags the priorities of the President and this government - which is growth and jobs. This needs to be read with the other objectives and guidelines issued by the President:
o transformation
o Anti-corruption
o Efficient, effective government – what the President terms - ‘joined up government’ – where departments are expected to collaborate and align their activities. No more silos and duplication.
o Also the importance of social dialogue and a social compact – all social partners are going to need to work together to dig South Africa out of its present difficulties.
• The specific implications of the renaming/reconfiguring of the Department of Employment and labour include the following:
o A much clearer focus on job creation – and providing a conducive environment for investment, growth and employment, which includes:
§ A stable labour market and labour relations
§ The coordination of government job creation initiatives
§ Leveraging the UIF and CF resources to preserve and create jobs (eg Edcon 140,000 jobs saved, plus the Training Layoff Scheme)
§ Partner with the Department of Higher Education and Training and SETAs for training directed towards the actual demands of the labour market
§ Contribute to the management of the Future of Work by preserving jobs and providing relevant training
§ Productivity South Africa – to assist SMMEs with Turnaround Solutions
§ Beefing up Employment Services to streamline placing of work seekers (eg the roll-out of on-line Youth Centres – providing a free service to employers and work seekers including psychometric testing, career counselling, generating of CVs and verification of qualifications.)
§ Strengthen NEDLAC to promote social dialogue.
I trust that gives you a feel for the future direction that the Department will be taking.
But back to the purpose of this Conference: occupational health and safety. I want to conclude by saying that, above all, it is vital that OHS policies and the Inspectorate to keep abreast of – and ahead of the rapid pace of technological development. Inspectors will need to be trained to meet these changes and challenges if they are to remain relevant and to ensure that the vision of decent jobs and safe and healthy workplaces is not compromised.
But for this to happen they will have to work closely with all the social partners and be responsive to their concerns and needs. And that I believe is what the theme and objective of this Conference is all about.
I thank you."