BULAWAYO – Workplace fatalities in Zimbabwe have surged to a record high despite ongoing occupational safety campaigns.
Labour and Social Welfare Minister Edgar Moyo revealed the worrying trend while opening the 2026 Engineers’ Workshop on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in Bulawayo on Thursday.
In 2022, Zimbabwe recorded 4,912 workplace injuries and 70 fatalities. While injuries dropped to 4,334 in 2023 with 60 deaths, the trend failed to sustain. In 2024, 4,242 injuries and 70 fatalities were recorded before rising again in 2025 to 4,414 injuries and 78 deaths, the highest death toll in the period under review.
The figures translate to an average of more than 12 workplace injuries recorded every day, highlighting the scale of occupational hazards across key sectors such as mining, construction, and manufacturing.
Officials warn that the numbers could be higher due to underreporting, particularly in informal and small-scale operations where compliance with safety regulations is weak.
“My question would be: have we been effective in our various roles?” Moyo asked.
“If we value occupational safety and health, we should expect our injury indicators to go down.”
The workshop is being held under the theme “Vision Zero: Safety, Health and Well-being,” a global initiative aimed at eliminating workplace accidents, injuries, and deaths. But Moyo said the latest statistics show Zimbabwe is still far from achieving that goal.
“No employee should get injured or die whilst creating work for someone else,” he said.
He warned that failures in safety oversight were costing lives, adding: “Life is sacrosanct and God-given. Let us preserve it.”
Moyo said the government is now working on new occupational safety and health legislation to strengthen enforcement and address persistent workplace hazards.
He also raised concern over systemic challenges undermining safety efforts, including underreporting of injuries, poor communication, and corruption during inspections.
“This calls for condemnation and should be discouraged in the strongest terms,” he said.
The minister urged employers and safety professionals to prioritise prevention, insisting that all workplace accidents are avoidable.
“All accidents at work are preventable. There is always a cause,” he said.
“The recurring message should therefore be prevention, prevention, and prevention.”
The three-day workshop has brought together engineers, OSH experts, and industry players to share best practices and strengthen collaboration in promoting safer workplaces.
“As we look into the future, let’s commit ourselves to inculcate a culture of safety and health in the workplace,” Moyo said.
“Behind every safety statistic resides an individual, and the humanitarian impact of injury or death is always far-reaching.”
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