Safe work environment laws in Zambia and international standards

Abstract

The high number of occupational accidents in places of work in Zambia has raised the need to examine the role of safe work environment laws in Zambia. To this end, this dissertation focused on analysing the adequacy of safe work and compensation laws for factory and mine workers. The dissertation also sought to analyse safety and compensation laws' compliance with international standards. Finally, the paper sought to make recommendations on how the laws could best be improved on. The dissertation establishes that the current safety law for factory workers is the Factories Act. With regards to mine workers, the current laws include the Mines and Minerals Development Act and several Regulations. Despite the number of safety laws, factory and mine workers are not adequately safeguarded. The major problems are lack of important provisions and standards contained in specific ILO Conventions discussed in the paper and lack of regular review which greatly disadvantages workers. The dissertation establishes that the goal of the Workers' Compensation Act is to provide for compensation in cases of death or injuries from occupational accidents. However, this goal is not completely met due to non-compliance with Conventions No. 17 and 18. Furthermore, compensation premiums are not regularly reviewed and this review lacks employer and employee participation when it is done. The paper recommends that safety and compensation laws be regularly reviewed and amended. This will ensure that they provide for workers' needs as and when they arise. It also recommends that ILO Conventions should be domesticated as opposed to mere ratification so that they can serve their intended purpose. The paper finally recommends that employers and employees be actively involved in contributing to the enactment of legislation as they are the parties that know best what is affecting them.