Zambia Sugar Chief Executive Officer, Oswald Magwenzi, has announced that the Company’s safety budget for 2026-2027, will more than double, to over K100-million from the current K45-million.
He made the revelation in Mazabuka when the Company was launching its Safety Week.
Magwenzi observed that this year’s theme was fitting because it showed that with all the investment the Company was making it was only going to be meaningful if the employee committed to making personal decisions that help keep them and their colleagues safe every day.
Magwenzi reiterated that safety must be seen as a principle and primary product in the workplace, without which, delivery of products and services is extremely compromised.
He called up everyone to be a safety leader everywhere, at home, on the road and at work.
He recommitted that management is focused on ensuring that every employee, contractor or visitor returns to their homes in good health, remarking that it would be pointless for one to injure or lose a life at work, the same aspect they came to sustain for themselves and loved ones.
Magwenzi also pointed at a previous K60-million investment which ensured that roads and pathways leading to the estates were improved to ensure safety and enhance productivity because access to operational sites was improved.
He added that the Company has continued to invest in efforts aimed at countering unsafe installations and unyielding behaviour by employees who may over look safety protocols as outlined in the Company’s policies.
Magwenzi urged employees to look out for each other’s safety at the work place, emphasizing the need to assess risks involved in a particular task by way of having daily meetings before conducting any work assignments.
He demonstrated that unlike some natural phenomenon like rain, investing in safety takes leadership and must be deliberate, a process which involves setting goals, respecting routines and ensuring daily implementation of set standards.
The Company commemorates safety every year in order to reflect on the safety journey: what has happened? how it could be improved? and celebrate successes as well as begin the year’s operation feeling fully supported.
This year’s safety week is under the theme: “Working Together to Create a Safe Place to Work.”