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Placed under the theme “Occupational Safety and Health in sectors of activity with high risk potential: challenges and intervention strategies”, the 28th African Occupational Risk Prevention Day was celebrated on Wednesday April 24, 2024 in Dosso. The activities within the framework of this day were launched by the Governor of the Dosso region, Brigadier General Iro Oumarou, in the presence of the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Civil Service, Labor and Employment, Mr. Dounama Abdou, the Secretary General of the National Social Security Fund of Niger, Mr. Mamane Arzika, administrative authorities and numerous guests.
Launching the activities, the Governor of the Dosso region thanked the organizers for choosing Dosso to host this event. The safety and health of workers, he indicated, are two issues that are close to the heart of the President of the National Council for the Protection of the Homeland Head of State, Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani and Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, as well as the transitional government.
Brigadier General Iro Oumarou invited all labor stakeholders to implement a decent work component through the national communication and awareness campaign on the prevention of occupational risks. The Governor of Dosso called for a mobilization of all stakeholders so that this celebration can lead to concrete results that should serve not only the interests of employees, but also the interests of businesses.
Previously, the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Civil Service, Labor and Employment, Mr. Dounama Abdou, dwelt at length on the importance of this ceremony. By choosing this year’s central theme, he indicated, the Inter-African Association for Professional Risk Prevention invites production units from sectors of activity with high risk potential in general, and those from the economy informal sector in particular, to internalize and integrate the issue of occupational risk prevention at the heart of their financial and technological policies.
Occupational risks remain a major concern on a global, continental and local scale affecting the safety of workers in various sectors of activity, underlined Mr. Dounama Abdou. According to data from the International Labor Organization, more than 2.78 million workers lose their lives each year due to accidents or illnesses linked to their professional activities. In Niger, noted the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Civil Service, Labor and Employment, it emerged from the statistics produced by the National Social Security Fund during the year 2023 that 132 cases of Work accidents were recorded, including 8 fatalities and 118 with work stoppage.
The Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Civil Service, Labor and Employment recalled the efforts made by our country through the adoption in 2017 by the government of a Framework Document for the National Security and Safety Policy. Occupational Health clearly defining the strategic areas of intervention and the roles and responsibilities of the different actors in this area. This commitment, he specified, is reiterated in the vision of the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland and the transitional government defined in the Resilience Program for the Safeguarding of the Homeland.
For his part, the Secretary General of the National Social Security Fund of Niger, Mr. Mamane Arzika presented the report for the year 2023 of the CNSS whose sectors are notably extra-territorial organizations and bodies with 27 cases of accidents , water, gas and electricity production and distribution companies with 27 cases of accidents and companies in the transport and storage sector which recorded 16 cases of accidents.
Mahamane Amadou, ANP-ONEP/Dosso
