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Zimplats wins top national safety awards

by NHPR
05 Oct 2015 at 01:26hrs | Views
Zimplats has taken the top two places in the Safety and Health at Work (SHAW) national awards. Zimplats Processing Division came first. Ngwarati Mine, which is owned by Zimplats, came second, while Murowa Diamonds came third.

Public Service Labour and Social Welfare Deputy Minister Tapiwanashe Matangaidze presented the awards to winners at the National Safety Awards Dinner hosted by the Occupational Safety and Health Division of the National Social Security Authority in Harare on Friday.

Zimplats, Zimbabwe's largest platinum mining company, dominated the awards. In addition to winning the top Premier Shield award, Zimplats Processing Division was awarded the EMCOZ Shield for the best performing company, where safety is concerned.

Zimplats Processing Division also came first in the regional awards for Mashonaland, while Zimplats mines Ngwarati Mine and Rukodzi Mine came second and third respectively.

First place in Mashonaland in the manufacturing sectoral awards also went to Zimplats Processing Division (Unilever came second and Gyproc came third), while in mining in Mashonaland Ngwarati Mine came first and Rukodzi Mine came second.

Speaking on behalf of Zimplats, after the company had been presented with its shield for coming first nationally, Zimplats head of corporate affairs Busi Chindove said the company's values were respect, care and deliver.

"We respect all our stakeholders, especially our employees, who come first. Where delivery is concerned, we set ourselves strenuous targets, including in the area of safety," she said.

She said when the Zimplats board of directors looked at their agenda, safety came first, before productivity and profits, important though these were.
Last year Zimplats Selous Metallurgical Complex took top place in the National Safety Awards.

In his address prior to presenting the awards, Deputy Minister Matangaidze said the awards were testimony to the fact that, although the country still had a long way to go to attain the optimum level of occupational safety and health performance, there were some companies that were committed to the safety and well-being of their employees.

"Since the adoption of the global strategy on occupational safety and health by the International Labour Organisation in 2003, which emphasised the establishment of a national preventative safety and health culture and the introduction of a systems approach in the management of occupational safety and health in member countries, Zimbabwe has been striving to make remarkable progress in this regard.

"Government, through NSSA, has been encouraging establishments to adopt a safety and health management systems approach, which includes the formation of safety committees and the training of their members, carrying out enterprise risk assessments, medical examination of workers, periodic testing and maintenance of various workplace equipment and machinery, notification of accidents and diseases, provision of appropriate personal protective clothing and equipment, and inspection of workplaces, among other important preventive occupational safety and health programmes," he said.
He urged others to emulate the performance of the winners.

"Government is aware of the difficulties our economy is going through. However, your resilience in establishing and maintaining good standards in occupational safety and health is extremely encouraging.

"I want to appeal to those employers and management who have not yet accepted the responsibility to prevent accidents to pick up speed and catch up with others," he said.

Giving an assessment of safety and health management performance, NSSA acting occupational safety and health director Dr Betty Nyereyegona, said only 15 percent of the 2 247 establishments assessed had good or acceptable occupational safety and health (OSH) performance. This compared to 18 percent of establishments assessed the year before.

The prize for the best research paper presented to the SHAW Conference went to the chairperson of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Midlands State University, Dr Stevie Jerie, for his paper on Occupational Risks Associated with Solid Waste Management in the Informal Sector of Gweru.

Second prize for the best research paper went to Miss Rachel Ndebele, student advisor at the Zimbabwe Open University, for her paper on Psychosocial Effects of Locum among General Nurses: the Case of Gwanda Provincial Hospital.

Portland Holdings Collen Bawn received the 3M PPC/E Shield for its performance in terms of use of protective clothing and equipment. Portland Holdings Collen Bawn also took top place in the regional awards for Matebeleland, while How Mine came second and Portland Holdings Bulawayo came third.
Portland Holdings Collen Bawn also took top place in the manufacturing sectoral awards for Matebeleland, with Portland Holdings Bulawayo coming second in this category and Jacob Bethel Corporation coming third.

The national award for the Most Improved Company went to Sino Zimbabwe, which also won the Midlands top regional award and top place in the manufacturing sector in the Midlands.

Haggie Rand came second overall in the Midlands and in the Midlands manufacturing sector, while Zimasco Shurugwi came third overall in the Midlands and Bata Shoe came third in the Midlands manufacturing sector.

In Manicaland, Marange Resources came top in both the overall regional awards and the regional awards for mining, while Shawa Mine came second in both these categories. Redwing Mine came third in the mining sector in Manicaland. Green Fuel Chisumbanje took third place in the Manicaland regional awards, followed by Border Timbers Sheba Estate, and came top in the Manicaland regional awards for the manufacturing sector.

In Masvingo Murowa Diamonds came first overall and in the mining sector, with Mwenezana Estate, which produces sugar, coming second overall and being awarded gold in the agriculture and forestry sector.

There were only two winners in the agriculture and forestry sector, Mwenezana Estate in Masvingo and Dunsinane Estate in Manicaland. Both were awarded gold.

There were no winners at all in the construction sector. In mining in Matebeleland How Mine came first, followed by Isabella Mine.

In the commerce and distribution sector, Total Zimbabwe came first in Mashnaland, with Intertoll Kadoma Plaza coming second and Volsec Security third.
In Matebeleland in this sector, Warman Zimbabwe came first, followed by Haggie Rand Zimbabwe.  In Midlands in the same sector Intertoll Zimbabwe came first, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Distribution Company (ZETDC) Bulk Supply Point came second and ZETDC Sherwood came third.
In Manicaland ZETDC Eastern Region came first, Zuva Petroleum Depot came second and BOC Gases came third.



Source - Agencies
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