By Own Correspondent

THE Zimbabwe Congress Of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President ,Florence Taruvinga has welcomed the enactment of new legislation giving workers the right to deny participating in precarious work.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act signed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa this week has introduced new major statutory protections for workers that are aimed at preventing workplace injuries, deaths and occupational diseases.

The law gives workers an explicit right to stop or refuse dangerous work where the risk to their safety or health has not been addressed, while also protecting them from dismissal or other prejudice for exercising their occupational safety and health rights.

“For us, this means that workers in both the private and public sectors will now enjoy protection of the latest rules and regulations that have also been domesticated from regional and international laws governing occupational safety and health,” she said.

Ms Taruvinga said the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Department was particularly important because it provided an enforcement mechanism for the new law.

“A law without enforcement mechanisms will allow people or companies or establishments to do as they wish,” she said.

She also welcomed the creation of the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases and the enhanced powers given to occupational safety and health (OSH) factory inspectors.

The inspectors, she said, now have powers to enter establishments to conduct safety and health inspections and, where necessary, stop production or close establishments that fail to comply with OSH requirements.

Speaking at the 63rd National Safety and Health at Work Conference in Victoria Falls recently, NSSA general manager Dr Charles Shava said the legislation represented a significant milestone towards establishing a comprehensive OSH framework aligned with international best practices.