THE Director General of Labour and Employment in the Ministry of Public Service and Labour, Anna Mugabo, has said that the safety and health of workers is a very important aspect in attaining quality.

Speaking during the one day consultative meeting that brought together participants from CESTRAR (Workers Trade Union in Rwanda) and the ministry to discuss occupational safety and health (OS &H), Mugabo urged employers to put more emphasize in their employees’ safety.

"We shouldn’t expect much production output from the employees when their safety and health at their workplace is at risk,” she noted.

She revealed that her ministry has already deployed labour inspectors in several districts to assess the safety and the health of the employees.

She urged the employers to provide their employees with safe and healthy working environments.

"People lose their lives at the workplace, so it is the responsibility of employers to ensure their safety and health,” she advised.

She stressed that her ministry is not only aiming at output but as well as their occupational safety and health at workplace.

The president of CESTRAR, Jeremy Nsengiyumva, hailed MIFOTRA for their initiative to partner with the trade union to ensure better working conditions for the workers.

‘The occupational safety and health of workers is our first priority as they are members of CESTRAR,” he said.

He called on the government to introduce occupational safety and health lessons in universities and the higher institutions of learning in order to enable the students to better understand health and safety matters at workplaces.

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