"Employers asked to maintain occupational safety and health standards"

The Gender, Labour and Social Development Ministry, has called upon all employers in the country to promote occupational safety and health of their employees to avoid disease associated with poor conditions...Peace Mutuuzo, the Minister of Culture and Family Affairs in the Gender, Labour and Social Development Ministry...[made a] call to all employees to maintain proper occupational safety and health standards to reduce on the number of health conditions affecting many Ugandans resulting from poor working conditions...

According to Mutuuzo, 18 percent of the deaths that occur in the country are as a result of poor occupational safety and health conditions at work places. 2016 data from the Mundi Index shows that 10.2 deaths occur per 1,000 people in Uganda on average. Common occupational diseases include;  musculoskeletal disorders, circulatory diseases, mental illnesses like stress, cancers, skins diseases and diseases caused by exposure to biological agents.

Mutuuzo says currently, hundreds of Ugandans across the country do not wear the right kind protective gear in the course of their work while others abuse them. “So many miners in this country are not equipped with the right clothing to carry out their work. Even in some health facilities official who are meant to be dressed in white coats carry out their work in plain clothes. This is not right.”...The ministry of gender is scheduled to carry out site visits at different companies...