Thirty-three trade union participants, including 10 women, from three Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) affiliates in Zimbabwe (CLAWUZ, GAPWUZ and ZCATWU) gathered at Cresta Lodge, Msasa, Harare, last 21-23 September, for a three-day workshop aimed at strengthening their capacity to promote safer and healthier workplaces. Titled “From Inspection to Compliance: Strengthening Trade Union Capacity for Safe and Healthy Workplaces,” the workshop brought together designated Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) inspectors and union representatives to address workplace hazards across sectors, from construction sites and timber mills to cement plants.

Organised under the BWI–Union to Union (UtoU) programme, with support from LO, TCO and SACO Global, the workshop equipped participants with practical skills in identifying hazards, investigating incidents, documenting violations and engaging employers on corrective action. It reinforced the principle that occupational safety and health is a workers’ right, not merely a technical or management responsibility. Despite Zimbabwe’s legal framework and ratification of ILO Convention No. 155, gaps remain between legislation and workers’ daily experiences, with unsafe machinery, inadequate protective equipment, occupational diseases, psychosocial risks and climate-related heat stress continuing to pose serious challenges.

Through practical sessions on workplace inspections, compliance gap analysis, accident investigations, occupational health surveillance and emergency preparedness, participants explored ways to move beyond reacting to accidents towards preventing them. Particular attention was given to violence and harassment at work and the growing impact of climate change on workers’ health and safety. The workshop also highlighted the importance of collaboration between trade unions and inspectors, emphasising that effective workplace protection requires informed workers, capable unions, accountable employers and consistent enforcement—not legislation alone.

To translate the training into action, participants developed 90-day action plans to apply their learning in workplaces, strengthen engagement with employers and use documented OSH findings in collective bargaining, union organising and campaigns. The workshop underscored the importance of evidence-based action in securing compliance and lasting improvements in workers’ safety and health. Its central message was clear: inspect to identify hazards, document violations to demand accountability, and organise to secure change.