Africa-Press – Angola. The General Labor Inspectorate (IGT) in Bié Province has reiterated the need for employers to implement Occupational Qualifiers in order to promote wage fairness and the well-being of workers.
The recommendation comes from the head of the IGT’s local services, António Caquarta, who spoke, on the occasion of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, to be celebrated on Tuesday, April 28.
On the occasion, he highlighted the importance of implementing this instrument, stating that it allows for the guarantee of wage fairness in the remuneration process and, consequently, contributes to the prevention of psychosocial problems for workers and the improvement of the quality of life of their families.
For him, the lack of the Occupational Qualifier makes it impossible to pay an adequate salary according to the skills and specificities of each worker, in addition to compromising their professional and social performance.
As an example, he revealed that, from January to February of this year, the IGT in Bié identified six workers with potential psychosocial problems, a situation he considered worrying, not only because of its seriousness, but above all because of the lack of occupational medicine specialists in the province’s health units for better monitoring.
Regarding the province’s data, António Caquarta stated that, during the first quarter of this year, the AGT notified 138 labor infractions, 58 fewer than in the same period of the previous year, with the application of 50 fines (42 more), which allowed the collection of six million and six thousand kwanzas and 667 cents, four million 667 thousand 961 cents more.
The institution also promoted 71 inspection actions (35 more), which covered 771 workers (38 more), in companies in the trade, construction, bakery sectors, among others.
During the same period, the IGT received 67 requests for conflict mediation, 19 fewer than the previous period, for violations of the General Labor Law and other legal instruments, which included non-payment of wages, registration and payment of social security contributions, personal protective equipment, worker health insurance, as well as psychological aggression. In the period in question, the institution also recorded three workplace accidents (three more than the previous period), with material damages estimated at 310,000 kwanzas.
For this reason, the institution appealed for the strengthening of dialogue between employers and workers as the main way to resolve problems in labor relations.
The commemorative events for World Day for Safety and Health at Work for this year will take place until the 30th of this month under the motto “Towards healthy psychosocial work environments”.
In the province of Bié, lectures will be held addressing various topics, aiming to raise awareness among employers of the need to improve working conditions and respect for workers.
Among the topics, the following stand out: “Psychosocial risk factors in the workplace and their consequences for worker health”, “Impact of workload on mental health”, “Management of psychosocial risks related to work” and “The importance of subscribing to work accident and occupational disease insurance”.
The same lectures will be aimed at workers from companies linked to the construction, transport, security, education, energy and water, sanitation and bakery sectors.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work was established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2003, with the aim of highlighting the tragic consequences that can occur in work environments and the need for a healthier occupational safety and health culture in the workplace.
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