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The department’s inspection service said it would collect information on how employers were doing justice after many workers resumed duties on Monday, but given their experience, their hopes did not rise.
The chief inspector of the Department of Labor of occupational health and safety, Tibor Szana. Image: @ deptoflabour / Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – The Labor Department said it expected the worst with respect to employers adhering to COVID-19 health and safety precautions in the workplace in accordance with Level 4 closure regulations.
The department’s inspection service said it would collect information on how employers were doing justice after many workers resumed duties on Monday, but given their experience, their hopes did not rise.
Employers must ensure that workspaces are thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and disinfection and temperature control facilities, among others, are used.
The Labor Department’s chief occupational health and safety inspector, Tibor Szana, said that for the past 20 days they had been talking about the employers’ lack of commitment to implement health and safety precautions.
“We will still have employers that are not complying, which is the nature of compliance that we have experienced even if we do extensive advocacy sessions, as journalists have been doing for the past month.”
With only 170 health and safety inspectors in the country, the department is unlikely to reach most workplaces. However, workers have been urged to report discrepancies.
The department has also asked unions to be on guard for non-compliant employers whose decisions could jeopardize workers’ health.
CRIMINAL CHARGES
The Labor Department said it would not only close companies that did not follow strict health and safety guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, but could also criminally charge employers.
More than a million South African workers returned to their jobs on Monday morning after the closing conditions eased to allow business to resume as the economy continues to suffer.
Szana said that while they were willing to work with employers to make sure they met security requirements to curb the spread of COVID-19, there were some crimes that they would not tolerate.
“It is not just that we close the business. The employer may not be addressing the problem and, in fact, it may be closing its own business if the workers become infected. We are dealing with companies that have 30 to 50 infected people and they have tested positive in the workplace. “
Labor organizations have expressed concern about the willingness of employers to comply with COVID-19 guidelines due to their poor record of compliance with existing occupational health and safety regulations.
Szana said that in this case employers had no choice but to comply, as confirmation of positive COVID-19 cases in the workplace would lead to the immediate closure of the companies.
For official information on COVID-19 from the Department of Health, click here.
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