Africa-Press – Botswana. Members of Parliament have supported the National Occupational Safety and Health Policy tabled before parliament by the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs, Major General Pius Mokgware, saying it will help promote a culture of safety in Botswana.
Contributing during the ongoing debates on the motion, Mahalapye East MP, Mr Augustine Nyatanga said the policy would help promote a culture of safety and assist to position the country’s OHS framework to be in line with international best practices.
“Currently, our country has fragmented OHS regulations. This is why I want to support this policy, because it is going to assist. We need to do something, because there are gaps,” he said.
Mr Nyatanga said if those gaps were left unattended, they would put the lives of employees in more danger, which was not good.
He also expressed delight that the policy was in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of good health and well-being and decent work and economic growth.
In that regard, Mr Nyatanga said the policy would ensure promotion of employee productivity, because if the employees’ health at the workplace was looked after, they would be productive.
Once adopted, Mr Nyatanga said the policy would assist in ensuring there was a comprehensive implementation of the OHS management system in the country.
“We will focus on doing risk assessment, hazard controls, human capital training and emergency preparedness. Also we will ensure that the people that we are going to employ as Emergency Safety Health Officers or Safety Health and Environmental Officers are adequately trained to monitor and inspect the industry for safety, which is something fully supported by International Labour Organisation,” he said.
Kgatleng West MP, Dr Unity Dow expressed support for the motion saying it had good intentions of ensuring employers provided safe and conducive environment for employees to work in. Dr Dow also stressed that the policy was critical and long overdue in terms of ensuring compliance to set OHS standards for safer and healthier conditions at work.
The policy, she said was a welcome development that would act as a one single document aimed at promoting safety and health in workplaces, for both the private and public sectors.
She said the policy would compel all employees to abide by its set standards, appealing to the government to also comply with the policy regulations, saying they were not only meant for the private sector.
Tlokweng MP, Mr Phenyo Segokgo also supported the motion, saying the policy would serve as an instrument that would motivate and encourage workers to become more productive, because they would be working under safer and healthier conditions. “Some of our employees in Botswana are angry and depressed, due to a workplace that is not conducive for work. Their mental and physical well-being are compromised due to unsafe and unhealthy industry environments,” he said.
As a human rights based government, MP Segokgo said it was befitting that government ensured all workers rights were upheld and protected at all times.
Tati West MP, Mr Justin Hunyepa said there was need for establiment of an Occupational Health and Safety Fund.
Mr Hunyepa encouraged Minister Mokgware to ensure that the policy was efficiently and effectively implemented, once adopted.
“It is important to curb hazards in the workplace, more especially in the mining and construction industry, to ensure safer and healthier working conditions. Let’s make sure that at the end of the day, everyone including people living with disabilities, those in the informal sector and creative industry are protected by this policy,” he added.
To achieve this, Mr Hunyepa said there was need for employers to be encouraged to set up OHS committees in their workplace to guard against non- compliance to the set policy standards and regulations. Such committees, he said would also help ensure proper record keeping of any harmful and hazardous practices that posed danger to the workforce, for promotion of effective monitoring and compliance within the industry.
Source: dailynews
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