Forestry seminar a success
A seminar aimed at creating dialogue between agriculture stakeholders, unions, federations, employers and employees in the forestry sector was held at Tzaneen Country Lodge from March 22-23.
The seminar was hosted by the Department of Labour under the theme: “promote social dialogue to enhance compliance in the forestry sector”.
Both employees and employers were educated about compliance in the forestry sector by various speakers who presented on different topics affecting the forestry sector. Topics such as wage determination, conditions of employment, unemployment insurance fund, occupational health and safety were tackled. The audience were given a platform to raise their concerns as well as giving inputs. Director in the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), Jan Madiega, presented on effective reporting of occupational injuries and diseases. He said both the employee and the employer must know the procedures that needs to be followed before an injury is reported. “We are only going to compensate someone who sustained injuries while on duty,” said Madiega.
Specialist Inspector in the Occupational Health and Hygiene, Bulelwa Huna, touched on the status of health and safety as well as programmes aimed at preventing workplace injuries and illnesses.
One of the attendees Lethabo Matlala, who is an HR consultant in the labour division for Thomas and Swanepoel Attorneys expressed her views on the importance of having these kind of seminars.
“The seminar is very helpful because it instills in us helpful information that we can pass on to our clients,” she said.
The commissioner in the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), Nicholas Matloga gave statistics of cases which were referred to the CCMA between 2013 and 2015 in the Agriculture and Forestry sector.
“In 2013 we recorded 226 cases, 2014 it was 284 and 2015 382 cases were brought forward. The numbers are escalating each year and this tells us that something must be done,” he said.
