Take OSH seriously, CEs told

PUBLIC Service minister Paul Mavima has urged company chief executives (CEs) to take occupational safety and health (OSH) issues seriously to enhance productivity, save costs and increase profitability.
Speaking at the chief executive officers’ occupational safety and health forum in Victoria Falls last week, which was part of a week-long National Social Security Authority’s (Nssa) 59th National Conference on Safety and Health at Work, Mavima said a culture of excellence must be developed in OSH.
“… there should be a paradigm shift among CEs through developing and understanding that all OSH excellence makes good business sense as it enhances productivity, saves costs as well as increases profitability.
“As such, management in any organisation must take the lead in setting the organisation’s safety and health culture through their actions,” Mavima said.

Public Service minister Paul Mavima

“OSH is crucial in enhancing industrial productivity and that’s the ultimate that we should be fighting for because that is what transforms our economy. Industrial productivity is key to the attainment of our national visions, not just vision 2030, but beyond that.
“The general desire is to have Zimbabwe at a certain level of economic performance and growth which translates to the standard of living of our people.”
He also urged CEs to be responsible and accountable when it comes to OSH matters.
“The duty of care always remains with you as the CEs, you should therefore, take full responsibility and accountability with respect to OSH matters, as these are life and death issues.

“It is that development of a culture that should go beyond occupational safety.
“We need to have organisations that have a culture of excellence everywhere. This is how the likes of Japan transformed themselves,” he said.
The conference, which was held under the theme: Creating Safe and Healthy Work Environments Through and Beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, provided a rich exchange of experiences, practices, and expert knowledge on the establishment of safe and healthy workplaces.

The conference was attended by several stakeholders including the government, labour, energy, mining and manufacturing sectors, as well as representatives from South Africa, Namibia and the United States.
Mavima hailed Nssa for conducting a successful conference and called for constructive criticism following negative media reports about the crucial indaba.

“… we should shun negativity, unnecessary negativity, we should shun cynicism, unnecessary cynicism, unfounded cynicism, we should not smear noble causes…

“We need to be focused on issues that take our country forward, issues… this very successful conference where we are discussing, not just how we can prevent the losses that come with good practices and policies on occupational safety and health, but also issues related to how we can make our country much more productive through excellence in occupational safety and health,” Mavima said.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw