The Ministry of Labour has successfully achieved a consistent reduction of 3 to 7 per cent in total workplace accident rates per annum for the last 15 years.
And there has been significant general improvements in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) standards.
Minister for Labour Jone Usamate said Fiji was asked to document our own successful OHS model by the International Labour Office Safe Work Geneva in order to promote OHS best practices.
“The OHS law covers all workers under contracts of service and those under contracts for service, whether unionised or not,” Mr Usamate said.
“We have successfully achieved a consistent reduction of 3 to 7 per cent in total workplace accident rates per annum for the last 15 years with significant general improvements in OHS standards in Fiji’s workplaces with significant social and economic benefits to the nation.”
The Labour Minister said Government ensured that even if workers were not members of unions, they remained under OHS law protection.
“The Employment Regulation Promulgation (ERP) and OHS legislations adequately protect the lives of all workers in the workplace, whether the workers are members of trade unions or not,” Mr Usamate said.
“The ERP, the Wage Regulations Orders (WROs), the Mediation Services and the new National Minimum Wage (NMW) also protect the interests of all workers.”
Minister Usamate noted the minimum labour standards under the ERP, the WROs, the Mediation Services and the NMW were specially designed to provide adequate wages and social protections for the marginalised workers who are not members of any trade unions.
“They comprise 72 per cent of the employment market,” Minister Usamate said.
Highlighting Fiji’s successful OHS model, the Labour Minister said Papua New Guinea adopted this model, which was under the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Agreement between the Ministry of Labour and the PNG Labour Department.
The Fijian Labour Ministry has provided consultancy services to its PNG counterpart and completed PNG’s draft reformed OSH Bill in November 2013.
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