Title: THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN SUSTAINING HUMAN CAPITAL
1THE ROLE OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY IN
SUSTAINING HUMAN CAPITAL
Professor Avinash Govindjee Faculty of Law,
NMMU CCMA
2Key issues
- How can the South African human capital /
workforce be sustained through good health and
safety laws and practices? - Are there international standards / best practice
experiences which can inform the South African
position? - Does the South African constitutional framework
impact in this area? - How to view occupational health and safety in the
emerging South African context?
3Is occupational health and safety (still) a
global issue?
- Amount of compensation paid and number of cases
reported increase yearly - Overall annual rate of occupational fatal and
non-fatal accidents is estimated at 270 million - 160 million workers suffer from work-related
diseases Two-thirds cause a loss of four or more
working days - Economic impact (including compensation,
training costs, medical expenses, loss of working
days) roughly 4 of GNP - ILO figures
4Is occupational health and safety (still) a real
issue in SA?
- The DoL has acknowledged the cost of
non-adherence to OHS (amendments promised) - Death, disability, loss of income, decline in
GDP, general cost to the country - Over 230 000 workplace accidents / 10 000
diseases reported per annum (excludes
self-employed and ICs, issue of under-reporting
in Southern Africa) - Estimated at R30 billion a decade ago (3,5 of
GDP) - Costs to employers, workers and their families
and the state (CF paid R2,3 billion last year)
5- Unfortunately, the most creative social
protection systems cannot confront a tidal wave
of health problems from insecure, hazardous and
low-quality jobs - An awareness of the social cost or injuries /
diseases is seriously lacking
6The approach
- International perspective
- The regional position
- Best practices
- Constitutional framework and legal issues
- Developing world / globalisation /
informalisation / GFC considerations - General remarks
7International framework ILO Standards
- Occupational Safety and Health Convention No. 155
of 1981 (ratified in 2003) (tripartite
occupational health systems, rights and
responsibilities) - Each member shall, in consultation with the most
representative organisations of employers and
workers, formulate, implement and periodically
review a coherent national policy on occupational
safety, occupational health and the working
environment. - Identify functions and responsibilities of all
stakeholders (but recognise complementary
character) - Review national policy at regular intervals
- Adequate and appropriate system of inspection and
enforcement adequate penalties for violations - States must provide guidance to employers and
workers to assist them to comply with their legal
obligations - No cost to workers
8Occupational Health and Safety Convention No. 155
of 1981
- Addresses the standard of reasonably
practicable - The Convention also provides for the protection
of a worker from unfair consequences - removal
from situation of imminent and serious danger (SA
cases) - Prescribes that the coverage of safety and health
law is to apply to all branches of economic
activity and to all branches of activity covered - Safety and Health in Mines Convention No. 176 of
1995
9Other (unratified) Conventions
- Occupational Health Services Convention No. 161
of 1981 - Safety and Health in Construction Convention
No.167 of 1988 - Chemicals Convention No 170 of 1990
- Prevention of Major Industrial Accidents
Convention No 174 of 1993
10Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and
Health Convention, 187 of 2006
- Attempts to raise the profile of OHS as an issue
both nationally and internationally - Safe work is an integral part of the ILOs decent
work agenda - Fundamental building blocks of a global OHS
strategy are the building and maintenance of a
national preventative safety and health culture
11A national preventative safety and health
culture
- Right to a safe and healthy working environment
is respected at all levels - Governments, employers and workers actively
participate to secure a safe and healthy working
environment through a system of defined rights,
responsibilities and duties and - The principle of prevention is accorded the
highest priority
12Building the culture
- Requires making use of all available means to
increase - General awareness,
- knowledge and
- understanding of the concepts of hazards and
risks and how they may be prevented or controlled
13Other key elements
- National policy in consultation with
representative organisations - Develop a national OHS system containing the
infrastructure to implement the policy - Analyse the national OHS situation
- Implement over a specific period of time
- Collaboration with any occupational injury
programme
14Safety and Health Standards in the SADC
- Does SADC comply with international standards,
specifically the ILOs Occupational Safety and
Health Convention No 155 of 1981? - Most recent legislation, eg SA, mostly compliant
- Applies to more than just employees
- Tripartite council (although advisory)
- Training obligations (inform employees and health
and safety reps)
15OSH Standards in the SADC
- Challenging aspect how to extend the legal
coverage to include small-scale enterprises,
rural workplaces and the inspection of machinery
and equipment prior to the installation thereof
in the workplaces - Enforcement is a problem
- Lengthy court processes
- Unwillingness to prosecute
16- The need to institute a common standard in the
SADC region, given that it is now more integrated
and there is a greater flow of labour, goods and
services (Art 12 of the Social Charter) - Bi-partite / multi-lateral agreements
- Protocol on Mining and Protocol on Health exists
(co-operation / best practice sharing) - National Institute for Occupational Health / SADC
- SADC Ministers meeting pressurising ratification
- Technical Co-operation Programme 1996
- Training programmes
17Comparative experiences / Best practices
- Kenya National Occupational Safety and Health
Policy (June 2010) - Follows the creation of a Common Market Protocol
for the East African Community (EAC) - Increased mobility of labour foreseen
developing an OSH culture seen as a key part of
this progress - Policy developed following an extensive
consultative process - Collaboration planned for the road ahead
18Australia Harmonising Occupational Health and
Safety Regulation (2008)
- Conducted a national OHS Panel review
- The First Report of the Panel was then commented
on by stakeholders / academics, prior to a second
review - EG commented on meaning of reasonably
practicable - Previously fragmented
- Basic model for occupational health and safety
laws developed (with flexibility for States) - Regular comparison and bench-marking with New
Zealand
19Korea and China Occupational diseases
- Mesothelioma surveillance system developed
collects data on workers who have been exposed to
certain hazardous substances - Might result in occupational diseases after a
long latency period (eg asbestos-related
diseases) - Rebate system in China
20The South African Constitution and legal position
- Fair labour practices
- Right to a safe environment that promotes health
and well-being - Right to have access to social security
- Freedom and security of the person
- Life (Taskin v Turkey), human dignity, equality
- Mankayi interpreting the common law in line with
the Constitution
21Comparative perspectivesProblems in lower
income countries
- Loewenson
- In industrialised countries, standard setting in
unclear situations may err on the side of
controlling risks, but in poorer countries this
often errs on the side of continued exposure - Immediate costs to enterprises sometimes limit
efforts to improve work safety (same issue re
treatment of disabled in workplaces?) - The burden of uncertainty is borne here by
workers - Add to that the least human, technical and
financial resources to demonstrate the risk - Also an outflow of occupational health
professionals
22Globalisation effects
- Increasing proportion of manufacturing and
industry shifted to the developing world - Leads to higher level of injury and disease risk
- 50 of South African still employed in hazardous
sectors (mining, construction, transport,
agriculture and manufacturing) - Job insecurity, contingent work arrangements and
rising informality have adverse OHS outcomes - Rise in injury rates, diseases rates, hazard
exposures and work-related stress - Temporary workers, sub-contractors and
self-employed persons tend to have a very limited
understanding of their own responsibilities /
inadequate training in OHS procedures - OHS design does not cater for this
23Informalisation and OHS
- High level of occupational accidents and
diseases - Indicate that laws and strategies aimed at
prevention can / should be improved - Re-evaluate regulatory strategies also because of
growing informalisation (non-standard contractual
arrangements / self employment / workers in the
informal economy / role of unions /
regulation???) - Share of the those engaged in informal work is as
high as 90 in some African countries - Increasing proportion of workers not protected by
compensation or prevention laws - Many small employers dont have the capacity to
comply with OHS standards
24The effect of globalisation on health and safety
- Liberalisation associated with deregulation of
production laws - Add to the pressures on OHS standards
- OHS laws sometimes do not apply in some EPZs
- Penalties for breach of occupational health laws
have been set at absurdly low levels (relative to
other production costs) - Patchy law enforcement
- Criminal sanctions for breach rarely invoked
- Inadequately resourced government inspection
systems - Non-application of laws in the informal sector
25Globalisation effect (cont.)
- Rapid and uneven production changes have not been
accompanied by the necessary transfer of - Information
- Technology
- Skills
- Regulatory capacity
26- The health problems emerging from liberalized
competitive production processes demand that
production be organized to meet sustainable
development goals, not only in terms of economic
growth, but also in the development and health of
human resources
27- ILO The economic crisis has impacted negatively
on OHS since 2008, especially regarding migrant
workers (women, children also worst affected) - Growth of small businesses and the growing
informalisation of work is an issue - Lack of capacity to take preventative measures
- Informal workers more than 7 times as likely to
be involved in accidents than those in the formal
sector
28General remarks
- Data problem (also makes comparisons difficult)
- Globalisation and informalisation
- Focus problems
- Worker focus vs family focus
- Formal places of work vs non-standard workplaces
- Lack of attention regarding work must inform
the poverty-and-health debate and the
disability-and-poverty debate
29Work, poverty, health and safety
- Employment does not always address poverty
- Can cause increased vulnerability
- Increase in precarious work
- People unprotected in terms of social security -
forced to keep working - Poor OHS arrangements lead to injury / disease
further associated health costs / downward
mobility in affected households - Impact of occupational injury and illness on
poverty? - A number of studies illustrate that the cost of
occupational injuries and diseases falls on
informal workers themselves
30From employer-focus to employee-focus
- Change the attitude of employees and their
representatives towards safety (given the limited
expectation on employers) - Act already places an obligation on employees
- In the long term, reduce risk by improving
knowledge or introducing improved methods of
operation - The role of trade unions?
- Should benefit from the global spread of info
- Increased focus (globally) on OHS
- Innovation required
31The effect of Mankayi on OHS
- Content given to the employers duty of care
- Likely to instil accountability in these
employers? - A strong statement regarding the rights of a
particular category of worker - A floodgate of claims?
- Or an amendment to the legislation?
- Or a change in (employer) approach risk
management - A paradigm shift linking labour law to human
rights - Systems of OHS / compensation-focus cannot
operate in isolation or disregard human rights
32An integrated approach Prevention,
Re-integration / rehabilitation, Compensation
- An opportunity for change in South Africa towards
Win Win Win? - Will require a horizontal and vertical
re-alignment / defragmentation - No state institution has capacity or
responsibility to assume leadership role in all
sectors? - Develop synergies between prevention,
compensation (and rehabilitation) - A close institutional link will promote
prevention (improve quality of info etc)
33The likely effect of rehabilitation on OHS
- Requires a fundamental change in approach
- Allocation of (limited) CF resources to
prevention / re-integration activities - Depends on how it is incorporated / staffed /
resourced - How broad will this role be?
- Gather / disseminating information?
- Link to assessments / rebates (ito COIDA)?
- Knowledge-base creation
- Publication
- Awareness
- The role of an audit-tool on OHS?
34Conclusion and questions