BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

NAMES TSITSI RUVIMBO

SURNAME BULAKI

REG NUMBER B203223B

PART 2.1

COURSE CODE ESM 206

COURSE DESCRIPTION OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND

PROGRAM SHEM
LECTURER P NHOKOVEDZO
ASSIGNMENT 3

Explain any 5 weakness of Zimbabwean OHS laws and show how they can be

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 addressed.

Occupational Health and safety laws are important in a country since the govern how the
health and safety of workers is managed in organizations. In Zimbabwe there are many laws
that concern the OHS of workplaces. Occupational injuries, fatalities and illness create an
unnecessary burden on the country’s workforce thus that is why there are OHS laws.
Zimbabwean OHS laws have weaknesses which include that they are fragmented, outdated,
inadequate as well as lack of gender sensitivity. However the laws can be addressed through
the implementation and formulation of new and modern laws.

Occupational health and safety laws in Zimbabwe are fragmented, there is the NSSA Act
17:04, NSSA (Accident prevention and workers compensation scheme) Regulations S>I 68
of 1990, labour Relations Act 28:01 of 1996, Pneumoconiosis Act (Cap 15:08), Radiation
Protection SI 62 of 2011 as well as the Factories and Works Act !4:08 of 1976 with its 8
Regulations namely Registration and Control (RGN 262), General Regulations (RGN 263),
Building, Structural and Excavation Work Regulations (RGN 264), Escalators and
Excavation Regulations (RGN 278),, Boiler Regulations (RGN 279), Machinery Regulations
(RGN 302), Pressure vessel Regulations (RGN 303) and Electrical Regulations (RGN 304).
The fragmentation of laws usually leads to confusion on the administration of the law. It also
causes the same issues to be addressed in different Acts. Such fragmentation may result in
duplication of roles, overlaps and contradictions among the laws, the lack of coordination and
wastes of resources among administering departments for example in Public Health Acts and
Factories Acts ; inspectors have the same right to enter any premises or vessel for the purpose
of inspection, this includes factories clearly ,this represents duplication of roles.

Moreover as a result fragmentation of the law, there is no clear jurisdiction of powers given
by the Acts for the administration of law. An example where the fragmentation of law is also
observed is, the Factories and works Act 14;08 of 1976 Section 14 which requires the
reporting of accidents to NSSA to be done if the worker has not attended work for 3 days
whereas the NSSA (Accident prevention and Compensation Scheme) SI 68 of 1990 requires
the report of accidents to be done after a day.Therefore the OHS laws require harmonization
possibly under a single regulatory authority for effective coordination , consistency and
uniformity.

Another weakness of the Zimbabwean OHS laws is lack of competency in the boards since

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the minister can appoint anyone based on political interests.”Chief inspector shall be the
chairman of the board at national level, not to give the powers to the minister to appoint the
chairman of the board. “Although the taking of names to be board members can be
suggested by the employees and employers organisations, qualification and competency
should be considered. This weakness can be addressed if the organisations appoint or employ
occupational health and safety practitioner to deal with the issues. Chartered practitioner are
the only ones to be appointed as technical committee members. Although we have a technical
committee named ZIOSHC it is difficult to trace where it originated in the parent act of
NSSA Act 17; 04 of 1990. This leads to inefficiency in the execution of duties prescribed to
the committee as it is lacking a clear legal backing. Issues of its competence and relevance
being questioned even though its presence is crucial in the management of Occupational
Health and Safety at National level.

Most OSH laws still lack provisions for setting up workplace health and safety committees .
Appointment of safety representatives is covered in the 3rd schedule of SI 68 (Accident
prevention and compensation scheme) of 1990. This is done to encourage the social
dialogue in the country so as to foster or have a hazard free environment at workplaces.
However conclusions were drawn requesting the establishment of a law which shows the
establishment of ZIOCSH, safety representatives, safety committees at workplaces. Such
committees may exist in theory but are practically dysfunctional . The appointment of social
dialogue systems must be legally binding (NSSA 2012), this will lead to the development of
a strong social dialogue regarding occupational health and safety (Alli 2008). The
incorporation of provisions on minimum frequency of committee meetings and submission of
documentary proof to the employer and regulatory authorities is a way of addressing the
weakness of the law.

Furthermore ,the Zimbabwean OHS laws are outdated yet they are still being used thus
making them not to match with the modern world as well as the changing technology. For
example the Factories and Works Act 14:08 was last reviewed in 1996 and some of its
requirements and definition of activities, tools and standard are no longer appropriate
considering the on-going modernization and development (Hubbard GB et al,. 2003).

Moreover another weakness of the Zimbabwean OHS laws is that the funding mechanisms
for OSH services is not embedded in the OSH laws. If this omission is not corrected, some

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employers may under-fund their organizational OSH services.There is urgent need to legally
compel employers to establish such requirements.

However, numerous legislative obstacles still exist in the laws, this may ultimately be a
disadvantage to many deserving workers. Firstly, the laws do not provide a minimum
standard for claims whereas some do not cover informal workers and the self-employed. Still,
the level of compensation promised by the compensation laws do not consider the severity of
risks encountered by workers and the unwillingness to compensate is apparent and
frightening. This may suggest that an injured worker deserving compensation could
encounter delays in receiving such claims. The compensation claim procedures are
bureaucratic and extremely long for example the Compensation laws in Zimbabwe insist
that the reporting of an injury must not be delayed but done within 14 days from the day the
accident occurred. However this weakness can be addressed if the injury reporting time is
extended to at least a month to accommodate delays associated with factors such as injury,
trauma and financial handicaps.

Moreover another weakness of the Zimbabwean OHS laws is that the statutory OHS rights
cease or direct the cessation of unsafe work where the worker has reasonable grounds to
believe that to continue work would expose the worker or any other person to a serious risk
arising from the immediate or imminent exposure to a hazard. For example a substance may
cause a disease of long latency. However the HSR should be allowed to direct workers to
cease work but only after consulting the person conducting the business or undertaking and
attempting to resolve the issue.

In conclusion Zimbabwean OHS laws has many weaknesses that may result in duplication of
roles, overlaps and contradictions among the laws as well as lack of coordination in
organisations. The above listed weaknesses can be overcome through the implementation of
new and safe laws that protect both the safety and health care of workers and the employers.

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