VODACOM Tanzania will this week mark 10 years of operations with no work-related fatalities being part of the commemoration of the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

Vodacom Board Chair, Thomas Mihayo said, at the Vodacom Supplier awards event over the weekend that they were marking 10 years of zero fatalities at Vodacom Tanzania.

"As the Board Chair, I feel proud to be part of this great achievement. Celebrating 10 years of zero fatalities is a huge milestone for Vodacom Tanzania. When you compare companies of similar operations in the country, Vodacom has set the bar high," To achieve this, Vodacom Tanzania took great initiatives, where it developed health and safety programmes that help to build a compliant culture within the market for both suppliers and employees, he said.

The mobile telephone firm succeeded to improve health and safety behaviour through visible leadership, health and safety training, group governance, site monitoring, site inspections, outreach programme as well as supplier & employee engagements, he said.

According to data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO, 2021), every day 6,300 people die as a result of occupational accidents or work-related diseases and more than 2.3 million deaths per year. About 117 million accidents occur on the job annually, many of these resulting in extended absences from work.

Vodacom Managing Director, Sitholizwe Mdlalose said, "As you are aware, at Vodacom, there are some risks that we are exposed to which include road risk, working at height, electrical works, fibre operations and commercial activations,".

To mitigate these risks, we introduced Absolute Rules in 2011, we started with only six Absolute Rules but due to the daily emerging risks, the rules gradually increased.

To date, we have 10 absolute rules that help us keep safe in all our activities.

"This year, as all Vodafone markets celebrate 11 years since the introduction of Absolute Rules, we at Vodacom Tanzania are proudly celebrating 10 years of Zero fatalities," Mdlalose said.

This week, Vodacom Tanzania is hosting a 5-person delegation from Safaricom from Kenya, one of the largest Telecoms in Africa, who is on a fact-finding trip to learn how Vodacom has managed to operate for the last 10 years without fatalities and perhaps introduce lessons learned back to their operations.

As part of the week's activities, Vodacom Tanzania will also be presenting awards to their best suppliers who have demonstrated the strongest commitment and adherence to health and safety practices.

Vodacom will also be holding an exhibition in which the public can learn about the company's policies on occupational health and safety.

Elaborating on the rationale for such strong health and safety policies, Vivienne Penessis, an official from Vodacom said, "In Support of the United Nations 2030 agenda of sustainable development which encompasses a global plan of action with specific targets to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all, fulfilling the Occupational Safety and Health commitment and implementing it is indispensable since people, and thus workers, are at the centre of all development goals and agendas.

On this day, we celebrate and know it is our obligation to adhere to all the health and safety requirements and ensure the safety of our employees is not compromised." The human cost of this daily adversity is vast and the economic burden of poor occupational safety and health practices is estimated at 4 per cent of global gross domestic product each year.

As a digital solution company, Vodacom has been on the front line to ensure the Occupation Health and Safety rules are a substantial priority by ensuring a safe and healthy working environment, and well-enhanced controls on high-risk activities such as electrical installation and maintenance work, working at height, fibre installation and occupational road risk.

Copyright Tanzania Daily News. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English