National Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Policy 2022.

This Occupational Safety and Health Policy is a nationwide sectoral document aiming to ease the enforcement of the Labour Act, 2017 that mandates every owner of an industry to take the necessary precautionary measures to protect workers against industrial accidents and occupational diseases. Consequently, the key goal of this Policy is to (i) encourage the positive creation of factors in the workplace that improve the social, emotional, and physical well-being of employees and society as a whole, not only to eradicate or minimize hazards and the occurrence of work-related accidents, deaths, and diseases; (ii) to guide the country in implementing a systematic approach for occupational safety and health, including (a) reducing work-related fatalities by at least 5-8% annually over the next five years, (b) focusing on preventing accidents and diseases, and (c) providing rehabilitation and compensation to injured workers. This Policy applies to all employers, employees, and workplaces across various economic sectors, including field work, factories, shops, offices, and both private and public institutions.
The specific objectives outlined in this document are as follows (i) improve working conditions in South Sudan's work industry, including establishing decent work forms and workers' rights and reducing work-related fatalities, injuries, and occupational diseases; (ii) enhance labor protection through effective occupational safety and health policies and legal frameworks. This involves developing coherent OSH policies and strategic documents, creating a comprehensive legal framework in alignment with international standards, implementing an OSH inspection and management system, strengthening OSH networks for better social dialogue, and managing knowledge related to preventive culture and OSH; (iii) establish transparent and effective OSH systems and enforcement institutions. This includes reducing undeclared labor-related OSH risks, increasing recognition and knowledge on employment and skills to reduce labor law violations in OSH, motivating employers to manage OSH risks effectively, and enhancing regional cooperation to elevate OSH policies to an international level in South Sudan.
The key interventions consist of (i) establishing a legal framework and (ii) organizing an institutional framework comprising the establishment of the national Central Advisory Committee (CAC), the establishment of national authority OSH to safeguard and undertake national OSH services, the establishment of a National Training and Research Institute for service quality and system innovations and improvement. For ensuring compliance, the Policy envisages (i) provision of sufficient OSH resources for implementation; (ii) creation and strengthening NOSH institutions, legal infrastructures, and promotional space with relevant technologies.