Occupation, safety and health day

Construction sector tops with injuries

By Jeff Andrew Lule

The construction sector contributes about 75% of the injuries at workplaces in different parts of the country, a senior official from the Ministry of Gender and Labour has revealed.

Eva Katusabe Muzira, a specialised safety inspector at the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) department, says many of the injuries and death cases reported are mainly from the construction sector.

"The few inspections we have done at various workplaces; we realised that many construction sites register more cases of injuries. This was evident at hydro power constriction site and road constructions among others," she notes.

She disclosed this at the national conference on OSH at work places under the theme; "Optimise the collection and use of occupational safety and health data" at National Theater in Kampala on Wednesday.

Workers at construction sites are expected to wear helmets and boots to avoid being hit by debris

Celebrations

The event is part of the activities in preparation to the main celebration to scheduled to take place at CHOGM Memorial park in Kampala today. Katusabe said the Government through the ministry has put in place an OSH Management Information System (OSHMIS) to easily record data of all injuries and sectors for proper measures.

She says they have already registered 2,200 workplaces which are part of the system. She explains that much of the injuries are as a result of falling objects, falls and caught in between objects among others.

The most common injuries include hand injury, head injury, leg and foot injuries among others Over 30 people get injured at various constructions sites in the country due to lack safety measures annually. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

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