MINISTER of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability), Professor Joyce Ndalichako, has issued a two-week deadline for Ruidar Co. Ltd, to improve workplace environment in adherence to safety and health guidelines.
Prof Ndalichako gave the order on Thursday, this week, after inspecting operations of the factory located in Kigamboni district of Dar es Salaam region.
The industry manufactures various plastic products, including water pipes and home utensils.
The minister noted with concern that the workplace environment was putting at risk safety and health of workers.
She was accompanied by Kigamboni District Commissioner, Ms Fatma Nyangasa and Chief Executive Officer of the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA), Ms Khadija Mwenda.
“The owner of the industry must first stop operations, especially at sections where they produce waste water and other sections found to have shortfalls. In the meantime the owner should work on making improvements during this period of two weeks.
“We real like our investors because they create employments for Tanzanians, but we ask them to observe country’s laws including putting the workplaces safe to avoid diseases and accidents,” she stressed.
Giving her remarks, DC Nyangasa told the management that the process for improving the workplace environment should be participatory, involving employees and supervised by officials from her office and Prime Minister’s Office.
On her part, OSHA’s boss, Ms Mwenda, asked industrialists to care about their employees, who are the core part in production, by giving them protective gears and other necessary tools.
“During our inspection we have noticed that only few of workers are given protective gears. Workers are also not given clean and safe drinking water as stipulated in the law guiding safety and health at workplaces. Though this matter is legally-binded it is also the issue of humanity,” Ms Mwenda argued.
Commenting, factory manager, Zhang Ping, promised to do improvements as per recommendations from OSHA’s experts within the given deadline.
The minister and her delegation also went to inspect the Lake Oil Group and had talks with the management.
Prof Ndalichako’s visit to industries and companies in Kigamboni was part of her visits in different regions to see implementation of the law on safety and health at workplaces.
