49% of workplaces ‘poorly prepared’ for Covid-19

JEMIMA BEUKESWINDHOEKInspections by the ministry of labour found that only 16% of workplaces complied with occupational safety and health standards, while up to 49% workplaces were found to be poorly prepared for the Covid-19 pandemic.This comes at a time when Namibia has recorded over 3 100 Covid-19 cases, including 19 fatalities. The country recorded 152 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, which brought the national tally to 3 101 confirmed cases.Of the new cases, 73 are from Windhoek. Notably 28 of the new cases are from the same locality, which was not named in yesterday’s health ministry update. A total of 10 cases were reported from one household and four cases are healthcare workers. Five of the country’s active cases are severely ill and six patients are in a critical condition.Low compliancyThe labour ministry’s quarterly report further found that medical and pharmaceutical establishments were the most compliant, at 45%, followed by the retail sector which achieved a 38% compliance rate.On the other hand, the agriculture sector was one of the least compliant, with 66% of farms visited found poorly prepared for the pandemic.“During this period, the ministry conducted 503 occupational safety and health inspections, of which 112 were regular inspections while 391 were Covid-19-specific inspections targeting the sectors that are considered as high-risk sectors. These inspections covered a combined total of 9 908 employees,” the report states.Job lossesThe report states that 1 816 people were retrenched for reasons related to the Covid-19 pandemic, while 3 932 were retrenched for other reasons.The Khomas Region recorded the highest number of layoffs at 2 838 people, followed by Erongo with 1 309 while in Omaheke and Omusati Regions only three and five workers respectively were retrenched.“Among all the regions, only Kavango-West was spared from retrenchment during this quarter. In addition, the ministry had to deal with 405 unfair dismissals, of which 13 were Covid-19 related.”The report adds that the ongoing Covid-19 state of emergency restrictions brough about some serious operational challenges and therefore the ministry has a backlog of 588 cases throughout the country.jemima@namibiansun.com

49% of workplaces ‘poorly prepared’ for Covid-19

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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49% of workplaces ‘poorly prepared’ for Covid-19

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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