Health and Safety
Employer Cares
In accordance with the Labour Code, an employer is responsible to maintain health and safety of the workers at workplace. Employer is required to keep the workplace in a common state of cleanliness and presentation of hygiene & safety necessary for the health and safety of workers.
The employer may also create a committee on health and safety at the workplace and devise modalities for its functioning. Workers must also be provided with a first aid box, needed in case of an emergency. In case of a work accident, the employer must evacuate the injured and take them to the nearest health centre.
An employer is required to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of all persons working in his/her workplace. The employer is required to: provide workers with work premises and tools appropriate for the work; assure workers of the reliable and timely renewal of collective and individual means of protection; conduct risk and hazard analysis and take effective protective measures; inform employees about any risks likely to result from the use of technologies and any other imminent danger; ensure that safety information is displayed in the readable language in all premises; ensure proper lighting, clean drinking water, an additional soft drink for strenuous work, and control noise and vibration; make no deductions from an employee’s remuneration or charge an employee in respect of anything done or provided in pursuance of the order on OSH, and notify the labour inspectors of any dangerous occurrence or occupational accident within four days of such incident.
An employer holds the responsibility to ascertain the health of his workers, provide them with suitable premises and tools to protect them, that the workers use necessary occupational health and safety protective equipment, identify the risks emanating from the nature of the work being done, train the employees on matters of occupational health and security, to record, report, and ensure safety from occupational hazards, and to ascertain that the workplace and the employees working there have the means, awareness and training to keep the place neat and clean.
The employer is also responsible to take prudent steps for the safe use of machinery and other equipment, for hoists and lifts, for fire prevention, for fighting, and against inappropriate use of chemical products, and other such aspects.
Enterprises with at least 50 employees working with hazardous materials or machinery must appoint or hire a staff member for occupational safety and health.
Source: §77 of the Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2018 (No. 66/2018); §3, 6, & 11-14 of the Ministerial Order Nº 02/MIFOTRA/23 of 01/08/2023 on Occupational Safety, Employees’ and Employers’ Organizations, Child Development, Employment of a Foreigner, the Child, and Circumstantial Leave
Free Protection
Labour Code requires the employer to provide free protective equipment (PPE) to workers involved in hazardous work. The type of PPE needed varies depending on the nature of the work being performed. The right use of PPE reduces the risk of accidents and illness. The employer is required to take all necessary steps to ensure that protective equipment is properly used, by maintaining and protecting it against any contamination that may be dangerous to the health of the worker.
The worker should also be trained and sensitized on the need to use any protective equipment available to him/her. The personal protective equipment should be easy to handle and must not hinder any task accomplishment. The relevant protective equipment includes a helmet and welding glasses; appropriate respirators to protect against dust, gas, vapours, or other noxious fumes; sunglasses; lead-coated blouses; noise control devices; gloves, sleeves, knee pads, and headgear; special shoes and protective clothing.
It is the responsibility of an employer to provide personal protective equipment to all the permanent and non-permanent employees that enter an enterprise. Under the Labour Law, an employee is not required to pay any cost in connection with measures aimed at ensuring occupational health and safety.
Source: §77 & 79 of the Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2018 (No. 66/2018); §9 of the Ministerial Order Nº 02/MIFOTRA/23 of 01/08/2023 on Occupational Safety, Employees’ and Employers’ Organizations, Child Development, Employment of a Foreigner, the Child, and Circumstantial Leave
Training
An employer is obliged to train workers on health and safety at the workplace and the correct use of equipment. The Workplace Health and Safety Committee is responsible to provide advice on health and safety training programmes and adjustment of such programs; examining documents specifying, for each training activity, the duration and the means allocated to achieve it and to ensure its effective implementation; and to ensure that all appropriate measures are taken to provide training of workers and upgrade their skills in the field of occupational health and safety.
It is the duty of the employer to train the employees as well as the OSH committeevis-à-vis health and safety matters at work at least once a year. Employer must also inform workers about the risks of the work they are doing, along with the assessment, knowledge, and dealing with risks that might surface with the use of new technology.
Source: §78 of the Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2018 (No. 66/2018); §3, 6, 21 & 22 of the Ministerial Order Nº 02/MIFOTRA/23 of 01/08/2023 on Occupational Safety, Employees’ and Employers’ Organizations, Child Development, Employment of a Foreigner, the Child, and Circumstantial Leave
Labour Inspection System
Labour Inspection System is provided under the Labour Code.
Labour Directorate is in charge of designing, carrying out and implementing the national policy and legislation governing employment. Labour Inspectorate, dependent on Labour Directorate, monitors compliance with the labour code and the provisions of collective conventions as well as social security laws. The Labour Inspector informs and advises employers and workers concerning the most effective means of complying with the legal provisions. He/she reports on all the activities that are not in compliance with the provisions of the labour code and the social security.
A labour inspector may enter, during working hours, whether at night or during the day, any firm in his/her area for inspection with or without prior notice. Inspector may request to be accompanied, by one staff member of his/her choice within the institution. The labour inspector is responsible to secure the enforcement of provisions relating to working hours, wages, hygiene, social security and safety at workplace, and the control of child labour at the workplace. He/she adjudicates disputes between workers and employers.
The employer has to report occupational hazards, diseases, and deaths to the Labour Inspector of the area of the workplace and to the social security organ.
The employer, the labour inspector, and the person in charge of occupational health and safety at the national level are responsible for the monitoring and functioning of the occupational health and safety committee.
Obstruction in the work of the labour inspectorate can result in a fine of FRW 100 000 and FRW 2 000 000.
Source: §112-113 & 120 of the Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2018 (No. 66/2018); §3, & 26 of the Ministerial Order Nº 02/MIFOTRA/23 of 01/08/2023 on Occupational Safety, Employees’ and Employers’ Organizations, Child Development, Employment of a Foreigner, the Child, and Circumstantial Leave
Regulations on Health and Safety
- Law regulating Labour in Rwanda, 2009 (Labour Code) / Itegeko rigenga umurimo mu Rwanda, 2009
- Ministerial Order Nº 02/MIFOTRA/22 of 30/08/2022 on Occupational Safety, Employees’ and Employers’ Organizations, Child Development, Employment of a Foreigner, the Child, and Circumstantial Leave
