Recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases in Malawi 2012

The overall objective of this study was to improve the collection, recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases with the overall goal of preventing occupational accidents and diseases in Malawi. This study was commissioned by the Ministry of Labour (MoL) with support from the ILO through a project on Improving Safety and Health through the Decent Work Agenda funded by the European Union.

This study explored awareness among different stakeholders, namely Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health, Workers’ Compensation Division (both of the MoL), Department of Mines in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi and Malawi Congress of Trade Unions about the need to keep records and report to the MoL if occupational accidents and diseases occur in workplaces. The study also looked at the existing systems in workplaces for reporting and notification of accidents and diseases, procedures for compensation and the challenges that workplaces experience in recording and reporting such incidents.

At national level the study explored the existing systems for recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases and mechanisms that the MoL has put in place in order to ensure that all workplaces in Malawi are aware of this need. The study further explored the challenges that the MoL experiences when compiling this data. The purpose of this study was to get the views of the social partners (namely Government, Employers and Workers) on recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases. The social partners were requested to offer suggestions on what needs to be done in order to improve the recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases. The ultimate aim was to provide practical solutions to promote the application of a coherent and harmonised system for collection, recording and notification of reliable data on occupational accidents, diseases and related statistics at the workplace and national levels.