Zimpapers Business HubTHE engineering sector is lobbying for provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Bill (OSH) to make the proposed new legislation proactive by mandating companies to prioritise workplace accident prevention.The Bill is meant to establish a comprehensive framework for protecting workers’ health and safety, covering employer duties, worker rights, workplace regulations and enforcement mechanisms.The new legislation would consolidate fragmented laws, align with international standards like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 155, and introduce new measures such as whistle-blower protection, enhanced enforcement and safer workplaces, ultimately reducing occupational accidents and diseases.Speaking at a public hearing on the Bill in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE) president Engineer William Musekiwa Goriwindo, said the current structure of the proposed legislation was mostly reactive, with legal provisions that only apply after an accident has happened.“So, the emphasis, which is now more on the medical side, needs to be re-aligned to indicate the hierarchy of prevention to ensure accidents are prevented and then the reaction can then be reinforcing,” he said.“We have benchmarked some of the practices elsewhere, including the international ones, in which we are putting together a paper that will be in writing.“The major one is that the structure of the bill needs to emphasise prevention as opposed to reaction.”Engineer Goriwondo, who is also the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Business Development at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), said they would submit their proposals by September 30, to emphasise key aspects of the engineering sector that should be included or revised in the proposed amendments.Engineer Last Mabvu highlighted the need for a clear definition of terms in the Bill, with the same meaning as two different things, but having the same definition.Leave a ReplyCancel reply Zimpapers Business HubTHE engineering sector is lobbying for provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Bill (OSH) to make the proposed new legislation proactive by mandating companies to prioritise workplace accident prevention.The Bill is meant to establish a comprehensive framework for protecting workers’ health and safety, covering employer duties, worker rights, workplace regulations and enforcement mechanisms.The new legislation would consolidate fragmented laws, align with international standards like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 155, and introduce new measures such as whistle-blower protection, enhanced enforcement and safer workplaces, ultimately reducing occupational accidents and diseases.Speaking at a public hearing on the Bill in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE) president Engineer William Musekiwa Goriwindo, said the current structure of the proposed legislation was mostly reactive, with legal provisions that only apply after an accident has happened.“So, the emphasis, which is now more on the medical side, needs to be re-aligned to indicate the hierarchy of prevention to ensure accidents are prevented and then the reaction can then be reinforcing,” he said.“We have benchmarked some of the practices elsewhere, including the international ones, in which we are putting together a paper that will be in writing.“The major one is that the structure of the bill needs to emphasise prevention as opposed to reaction.”Engineer Goriwondo, who is also the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Business Development at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), said they would submit their proposals by September 30, to emphasise key aspects of the engineering sector that should be included or revised in the proposed amendments.Engineer Last Mabvu highlighted the need for a clear definition of terms in the Bill, with the same meaning as two different things, but having the same definition. THE engineering sector is lobbying for provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Bill (OSH) to make the proposed new legislation proactive by mandating companies to prioritise workplace accident prevention. The Bill is meant to establish a comprehensive framework for protecting workers’ health and safety, covering employer duties, worker rights, workplace regulations and enforcement mechanisms.
The new legislation would consolidate fragmented laws, align with international standards like the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 155, and introduce new measures such as whistle-blower protection, enhanced enforcement and safer workplaces, ultimately reducing occupational accidents and diseases. Speaking at a public hearing on the Bill in Bulawayo on Wednesday, Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers (ZIE) president Engineer William Musekiwa Goriwindo, said the current structure of the proposed legislation was mostly reactive, with legal provisions that only apply after an accident has happened. “So, the emphasis, which is now more on the medical side, needs to be re-aligned to indicate the hierarchy of prevention to ensure accidents are prevented and then the reaction can then be reinforcing,” he said. “We have benchmarked some of the practices elsewhere, including the international ones, in which we are putting together a paper that will be in writing.
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