Namibian official calls for adopting employers

WINDHOEK, May 7 — In its National Occupational Safety and Health Policy, Namibia has adopted a strategy to develop occupational safety and health preventative culture framework, to minimize accidents and injuries arising from or occurring in the course of work, an official said Friday.
Namibia’s Deputy Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation, Hafeni Ndemula said this at an event to commemorate World Day for Safety and Health at Work on Friday in Windhoek.
“I call upon all employers in Namibia to adopt a culture of safety and health where both parties value the right to a safe and healthy working environment and actively participate towards its success,” he added.
According to Ndemula, it takes a well-structured system to have a safety and health programme where accidents and injury rate is close to zero.
“The Occupational Safety and Health Management System allows for systematic identification of hazards and risk, implementation of measures to minimize the risk exposure, effective communication, prevention of accidents; just to mention a few,” he said, while he challenged employers to implement occupational safety and health management system, to minimize work-related accidents and diseases.
Ndemula meanwhile said his ministry has since appointed a Tripartite Occupational Safety and Health Taskforce to oversee the implementation of the National Occupational Safety and Health Policy and the development of the occupational safety and health Bill.
To date, the UN agency, International Labour Organization estimates that around 2.9 million workers die every year due to occupational accidents and diseases and at least 402 million people suffer from non-fatal occupational injuries.  (Xinhua)