OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY NOTES

Introduction

Occupational Health is a science concerned with health in its relation to work or working
environment. This involves four main concepts to ensure total care of the individual and these
are;
 surveillance of working environment
 surveillance of workers health
 information, education and training and advice
 treatment and health programmes
 emergency preparedness - response planning (first aid etc.)

It is therefore the maintenance of the highest degree of physical, mental and social well-being of
workers in all occupations. The hazardous human work factors include;
 chemicals
 ergonomics
 physical hazards
 mechanical/electrical
 biological
 psychological

Defination of Terms

i) Hazard – A potentially damaging physical environment, phenomenon or human

activity that may cause the loss of life or injury, property damage, social and
economic disruption or environmental degradation.

ii) Safety – Practical certainty that injury will not result from exposure to the hazard
under defined conditions or high probability that injury will not result.
iii) Occupation – a job, profession, livelihood, career or employment.
iv) Health – a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being and not merely
the absence of diseases or infirmity
v) Occupational health and safety – safety issues related to the workplace OR the
discipline concerned with preserving and protecting human facility resources in the
workplace.
vi) Risk – probability or frequency of the occurrence of a particular hazard or event and
some measure of severity of the consequence OR the potential harm that may arise
from some present processes or from some future events. It is often mapped to the
probability of some event which is seen to be undesirable.
vii) Accident – an unplanned event that interrupts the completion of an activity and may
not include injury or property damage OR anything that happens by chance without
an apparent cause OR an unforeseen, unexpected and unintended event.
viii) Incident – an occurrence or event OR a single distinct event OR an occurrence either
human caused or by natural phenomenon.
Organisation of Occupational Health and Safety in Zimbabwe

Safety organisation in Zimbabwe

In Zimbabwe, safety organisation falls into two main categories that is;
- as a government organisation
- safety in the private sector

National level - NSSA is responsible for occupational health and safety and workers
compensation

Purpose of the OHS division in NSSA is to assure the creation and maintenance of ideal work
environments, which are free from occupational hazards, that may cause injury or illness to all
employees in work environments.

Safety organisation in the private sector

- The employer to have a laid down company safety policy
- To ensure education and training is given to workers
 both management and workers to be involved in prevention of accidents through e.g.
safety committee meetings
 hazard monitoring and control programmes
 accident investigations and reccommendations for improving the overall health and safety
environment of the workplace.

Safety is everyone's business.

Implementation - tripatite approach

 government
 employer
 labour

Zimbabwe Occupational Health and Safety Council (ZOHSC) drives the tripatite arrangement.
All parties agreed position is implemented.
Approach is in line with the ILO convention and reccomendations.

Role of the Government/NSSA in OHS

 To establish OHS legislation, national standards and guidelines in OHS
 Monitoring and enforcement of the OHS legislation
 Promote training and awareness of OHS
 Recording and maintenance of national accident/incident statistics
 Setting up and maintaining workers accident/incident compensation insurance funds
 Set aside funds and institutions that can deal with with workplace emergencies and
remediation etc.
OHS Legislation

International Guidelines and Legal Statutes

These include the International Labour Organisation Conventions as well as Occupational Health
and Safety Conventions e.g.;

 The Occupational Safety and Health Convention of 1981

 Occupational Health Services Convention, 1985
 Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents Convention, 1993

The local legislation on OHS includes the following;

Factories and Works Act (Chapter 14:08), 1976

The Act provides for the administration of occupational health and safety in Zimbabwe. It sets
minimum standards that should be met at all times by employers and provides means of dealing
with non-conformance. The Act covers the approval of building plans, reporting and
investigating of accidents/incidents, making of recommendations to management etc. This Act is
complemented by a series of Regulations which cover lighting, ventilation, noise, personal
protective equipment/clothing, hygiene, machinery etc.

Factories and Works Health and Safety Regulations

There are eight sets of regulations which are currently in force with regards to various activites
carried out in industry as guidelines for enforcing the requirements of law.

1. Registration and Control of Factories R.G.N. No. 262 of 1976

 plans and registration
 floor space and ventilation
 lighting
 sanitory conveniences
 washing facilities
 cleanliness of premises
 change rooms
 fire precautions
 use and storage of volatile flammable substances
 taking of meals within certain factory premises

2. General Regulations R.G.N. No. 263 of 1976

 protection against noise
 protective clothing and appliances
 drinking water
 first aid
 medical fitness
 dust and fumes
 goods hoists
 ladders, cranes, lifting appliances and lifting gear
 accident register and reports

3. Building Structural and Excavation Work R.G.N. No. 264 of 1976

4. Elevator and Escalator R.G.N. No. 278 of 1976

5. Boiler R.G.N No. 279 of 1976

6. Machinery R.G.N. No. 302 of 1976

7. Pressure Vessels R.G.N. No. 303 of 1976

8. Electrical R.G.N. No. 304 of 1976

National Pensions and other Benefits Scheme S.I. 393 of 1993 (NSSA)
The Pension and Other Benefits Scheme is for every working Zimbabwean above the age of 16
years and uncer the age of 65 who is in permanent employment, seasonal contract and/or
temporary employment (excluding domestic workers and the informal sector). It is a legal
requirement for all Zimbabweans to contribute to the scheme. The benefits offered by the
scheme include;
 retirement benefit
 invalidity benefit
 survivor's benefit
 funeral grant

Accident Prevention and Workers Compensation Scheme (NSSA) S.I 68 of 1990

The sheme;
- provides financial relief to workers and their families when a worker is injured or killed in
work related accident or disease
- creates an awareness and promoting health and safety at all places of work
- encouraging adoption of the health and safety legislation through factory and machinery
inspection
- providing rehabilitation services to disabled workers so as to reduce their disablement and
return them to their former employment employment or otherwise prepare them for a useful and
meaningful palce in society.

Pneumoconiosis Act Chapter 15:08 of

Pneumoconiosis is a progressive irreversible disease of the respiratory organs (lungs and
bronchial tree) caused by inhalation (breathing in) of particular forms of respirable dust, which
can be either mineral or organic (from plants such as cotton) dust.

 Mineral dust sites include; quarrying, brickmaking, potteries, cement manufacturing,

ceramics, roads construction, demolition works, power stations, boilers etc.
 Organic dust sources include; cotton from ginning, carding etc., textile industries, sugar
cane plantations, manure (mouldy hay), mushroom dust, etc.
 Chemical dust sources include; all chemical plants, fertiliser companies, chemical mists,
chemical vapours, chemical powder, chemical fumes, welding fumes, etc.

No worker shall be employed in a "dusty occupaiton" unless he/she is in possession of a valid

medical certificate of fitness issued by the Pneumoconiosis Medical Bureau in NSSA . All
workers are required to have medical examinations that include physical examinations and chest
x-rays pre-employment, periodical and on retirement/termination of empoyment.

Public Health Act Chapter 15:09 and Communicable Diseases Control

The Public Health Legislation aims to determine the health status of the population (by gathering
health surveillance information), and to implement broad societal measures that can prevent
injury and disease, and promote the public's health. The law also control activities that are a risk
to public health and is an essential tool for creating the conditions that enable people to lead
healthier and safely. Tuberculosis is a notifiable disease according to the legislation.

Other Legislation
 Foods and Food Standards Act Chapter 15:04
 Environmental Management Act Chapter 20:27
 Mines and Minerals Act Chapter 21:05
 Hazardous Substances and Articles Act Chapter
 Labour Relations Act etc.

Role of the employee in accident prevention

 taking reasonable care of health and safety of themselves and others
 reporting absence or defective equipment or protective devices
 reporting to employer existence of hazards which the employee is aware of
 cooperate with employer in creating and maintaining a safe working environment
 going for medical examinations
 working in compliance with such requirements for the protection of health and safety of
workers
 proper use/wearing of PPE provided by the employer
 not allowed to take away PPE from workplace for purposes which are not in line with
OHS
 ensure that operations are not endangering fellow workers
 not remove or make defective any device required for the health and safety of the
workplace.
 reporting of all accidents/incidents. etc.

Duties/Role of employers
 provide a safe and healthy working environment i.e. ventilation, exits, sanitary facilities
etc
 provide training and awareness to employees on hazards and control measures as well as
operating procedures/working instructions
 provide PPE for use in areas where hazard can not be completely eliminated
 investigate the cause of all accidents and /or incidents encountered
 report to NSSA any fatalities and or accidents in the workplace to enable workers to be
compensated
 dispose of waste such that there is no harm to the employees
 comply with the set OHS standards and regulations.
 ensuring that information, instructions,training and supervision is provided to support the
safety of employees etc.

Safe Systems of Work

Hierarchy of Control

Elimination
Substitution
Isolation/Separation
Engineering Controls
Administration controls
Personal Protective Equipment

 Elimination - the most satisfactory method of dealing with a hazard. Once the hazard has
been eliminated, the potential for harm has gone.
 Substitution - this involves substituting a dangerous process or substance with one which
is not as dangerous. This may not be as satisfactory as elimination as there may still be a
risk even if it is reduced.
 Isolation/Separation - separate/isolate the hazard from people. This method has its
problems in that the hazard has not been removed. The guard or separation device is
always at risk of being removed or bypassed.
 Engineering Controls - this includes the designing of the machine so as to ensure that it is
safe for use as well as the modification of the machine such as putting guards over
rotating or moving parts.
 Administration controls – usually involves the modification of the likelihood of an
accident occurring and this can be done by reducing the number of people operating the
machine, danger signs, lock out and tag out systems etc.
 Personal Protective Equipment - this is the least desirable control option. When it is not
feasible to render the work environment completely safe, it may be nescessary to protect
the workers from hazards with personal protective devices.

Monitoring and review - review is an important aspect of any risk management process. It is
essential to review what haas been done to ensure that the controls put in place are effective and
that they have not introduced new hazards.

Behavioural and Organisational Considerations

Some common behavioural and organsational errors include the following;
 operating using controls, valves and supply lines
 mix up of hazardous substances
 safety devices disconnected due ti frequent false alarms