Safety and Health at Work Is a Fundamental Right — We Celebrate this milestone in 2023
Kenya Marks World Day for Safety and Health at Work 2023
Exactly a month ago, on 28th April, the world marked world day for safety and health at work. This day has been set aside by the International Labour Organization(ILO) since 2003 to reflect on the milestones made towards promotion of safety and health at work. The main goal ILO set is to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally.
Kenya, being a member state of ILO was not left behind in marking this day. In 2023, the theme for the day was “A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental right”.
What Other fundamental rights do workers have?
Since the year 1998 , the International Labour Conference declared the following as workers rights:
- freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
- the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour;
- the effective abolition of child labour;
- the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
However, last year, on 11th June, 2022, the International Labour Conference added “ a safe and healthy working environment” as the 5th principle and right. It is upon this declaration that this year’s theme was carved from.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection in Kenya is committed to workers’ safety
As a lead up to 28th April, the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services (DOSHS) ,the department under the ministry of Labour charged with workers safety and health had several activities planned to mark the day. The activities included first aid competitions, safety and health awards for workplaces in different sectors and a commemoration of the day when all winners would be awarded.
The event was held at the grounds of Tom Mboya Labour College, Kisumu. It was not lost on me the historical significance of this : Using the grounds named after a pre & post -independence trade unionist, Tom Mboya and the observance of workers day on safety. To expound more on this significance, the ILO operates on the principle of tripartism, where there is dialogue and cooperation between governments, employers and workers; on the formulation of standards and policies dealing with labour matters. This principle is guided by ILO convention 144(C144) on tripartite consultation that Kenya ratified on 6th June 1990. In Kenya ,the tripartite participants are:
- Most representative organization of Workers — Central Organizations of Trade Unions(COTU)
- Most representative organization of employers — Federation of Kenyan Employers(FKE)
- The government through the relevant Ministry
All these organizations were represented on this day and gave their remarks in support of safety and health at work as a fundamental right.
Highlights from the speeches
The Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Labour , Hon. Florence Bore, asked all attendants to observe a moment of silence for the fallen workers. She noted that for the year 2022 there are 177 workers who died as a result of occupational accidents. In addition, for that same period there were 4398 occupational injuries and 741 occupational accidents recorded. She also highlighted that this theme is timely as it is in line with the fundamental rights and freedoms stipulated in the Constitution of Kenya article 41(2)(b). This article states that “ every worker has the right to reasonable working conditions”. It is no wonder the general commentary on the Kenyan constitution is largely on how progressive it is as this was passed 13 years ago.
Are we making progress?
On the other hand the Principal Secretary for Labour and Skills Development, Hon. Geoffrey Kaituko’s speech emphasized on supporting the plans to make the directorate into an Authority. He mentioned that this will strengthen its mandate in ensuring workplace safety in the country. He quipped that our neighbouring country Tanzania had made tremendous strides with an Authority having learnt from their Kenyan counterparts close to 13 years ago. Hon. Kaituko also touched on the government’s plans to transition from the liability based system of compensation of workers to a social liability approach. This will see a reform on how the Work Injury and Benefits Act, 2007 is administered.
It was a delight to be in attendance on this day as I got to appreciate how far we have come, the government’s commitment to improving workplace safety and health and of course to catch up with my peers in the field. In particular I was proud to see a public institution, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital(MTRH) bag an award as the overall winner in health and safety in 2023 and also the best in health sector. It was a testament to possibilities and it served as a good reminder that being a public institution should not equal being mediocre. Other winners included Safaricom’s JCC call centre in the service sector.
