Employment and Labour on occupational health and safety deficits

Over sixty thousand construction workers die on the job every year globally and about eight people die in the South African construction work monthly, due to occupational health and safety deficits and other contributing factors such as lack of training of workers and non-compliance.

This was heard today (01 November 2024) in George during the second leg launch of the nationwide collaborative initiative by the Department of Employment and Labour and its social partners, which is aimed at promoting decent work for all in South Africa's construction industry.

The Department of Employment and Labour (DEL), together with its social partners, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Federated Employers Mutual Assurance Company (FEM), and the Compensation Fund (CF), have united to support labour rights and ethical business practices in the construction sector.

The Department's Inspector General (IG) Ms. Aggy Moiloa, said the safety of workers in the workplace is a true gospel that is directly linked to people's lives and she has emphasised the need for preventative measures against work-related deaths and injuries in the construction sector.  

There are 1.2 million workers in the South African construction sector and beyond the number of workers in the sector, the industry is shaping lives, communities, and economies from various homes and the roads.

“We have got to work on our culture of non-compliance as a nation and we don't have that. Eight workers die in South Africa every month to work-related incidences. So the likelihood is eight bread winners die per month and these things can be prevented. Remember we are talking numbers, but behind every number there is a family that is affected, there are children that are left without a parent," said Moiloa.

Since 2019, the Compensation Fund in the construction sector alone has paid more than 20 billion claims that came through: “from people that have lost their limbs, people that have lost their lives, people that have been injured at work".

“The fundamental thing is that every one of these accidents is preventable. You have a right as an employer and you have rights as an employee. And the fundamental of the laws regulated by the Department's labour laws is to protect the vulnerable.

The message we must give to ourselves is that wherever we are, we can be part of the contingence of inspectors. We are looking for workplace that are self-regulating," Moiloa emphasised.  

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director in South Africa, Mr Alexio Musindo, said about 2.93 million people die each year from work-related factors globally, three hundred and ninety five (395) sustain non-fatal work injuries each year, over sixty thousand construction workers die on the job every year globally and while the sector is responsible for about thirty six (36) per cent of the fatalities globally.

“Yet, this is the sector that is more hazardous in the world. If I just give you some of the figures from the ILO globally on this sector and why it is important to focus on health and safety in the sector.

“In South Africa, like other countries in the world, construction industry is responsible for linking the economies to everyone. However, when it comes to decent work deficits the sector does suffer from decent work deficits. We therefore need to ensure that the sector does deliver productive and rewarding benefits for the workers," said Mr Musindo.

According to ILO, decent work is work that provides a fair income, where occupational health and safety is respected along with working conditions and hours are taken into consideration, where gender equality is taken into account and where workers can come together and have a voice through social dialogue.

“With all that, we still have injuries in the workplace and from ILO, we are saying with more decent work we are likely to achieve zero fatalities target," he said.

According Musindo the inadequate safety measures for the workers, poor training of workers, and pressure for business to meet deadlines also contributes to decent work deficits, and the issue of accountability where safety violations can go unpunished are just some of the negative contributing factors for high numbers of fatalities and injuries in the construction industry.

For more information:  
Teboho Thejane
Departmental Spokesperson
Cell: 082 697 0694
E-mail: teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za