Speaking during the inaugural national conference on Occupational Safety and Health in Blantyre, the EU head of corporation George Dura said the EU “is implementing comprehensive strategies and policies and supporting partner countries in the decent jobs agenda through interventions such as the Zantchito Skills for Jobs programme.”
In his official opening remarks, the Director of Administration in the Ministry of Labour Paul Kalilombe hailed the EU funded Zantchito Skills for Jobs Programme for the financial and technical support towards the hosting of the conference. He also assured the delegates in the conference of “the ministry’s commitment to prioritise OSH in the workplace.”
The decent work component of the Zantchito Skills for Jobs Programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour organised the conference to provide a platform for the exchange of OSH experiences, practices, and expert knowledge in the management of OSH hazards and risks in the world of work. The conference was held under the theme “Promoting Occupational Safety and Health: towards vision Zero” which aligns with the Vision Zero Concept, a global transformative approach for prevention of occupational accidents and diseases.
In her remarks, Patience Matandiko, the ILO’s Country representative said that ILO believes that occupational safety and health is a fundamental principle and right at work that contributes to human dignity, promotion of productivity, sustainable decent Jobs and social justice.
“Unsafe workplaces have devastating effects on workers and their families owing to the effects of work related accidents, diseases and deaths. They also have financial implications for employers and business growth due to lost productivity resulting from business disruptions associated with occurrence of work related accidents, diseases and deaths.” Said Matandiko.
In June 2022, the International Labour Conference made a milestone decision to include “a safe and healthy working environment” in the ILO’s framework of fundamental principles and rights at work and to designate the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Promotional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187) as fundamental Conventions. The Government of Malawi and its social partners are commended for ratifying the above conventions that are key instruments in promoting the development and implementation of national OSH policies, programmes and systems and the establishment of a national preventative safety and health culture
Employers Consultative Association of Malawi ECAMA president, George Khakhi pleaded with the Government of Malawi to allocate enough resources to the directorate of OSH to ensure its effectiveness in championing the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases. The conference brought together delegates from government ministries, departments, agencies, the private sector, SMEs, and the academia to discuss and develop consensus based strategies to circumvent OSH challenges in many workplaces in Malawi .
