Introduction

The enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2026 (Act No. 7 of 2026), on 16 October 2026 marks a significant development in Zimbabwe’s occupational safety and health regulatory framework. Repealing and replacing the Factories and Works Act [Chapter 14:08] and the Pneumoconiosis Act [Chapter 15:08], the new legislation establishes a more comprehensive framework for workplace safety, occupational health surveillance, risk management and regulatory oversight. Importantly, its implications extend beyond industries traditionally associated with occupational hazards to businesses and employers operating across the broader economy.

Occupational safety and health is no longer a matter of concern principally to factories, mines and other industrial operations. The new legislative framework has implications for employers and business owners across a wide spectrum of economic activity, including mining, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, energy, transport, information technology, financial services, telecommunications, retail, hospitality, healthcare and professional services. Whether an enterprise operates heavy industrial machinery, manages agricultural operations, provides technology services or conducts its business from conventional office premises, workplace safety and occupational health are matters requiring appropriate management attention and regulatory compliance.

The Act introduces substantial reforms, including the establishment of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health and the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases within the National Social Security Authority (NSSA). It further provides for obligations affecting employers, employees, manufacturers and suppliers; recognises the right of workers to refuse dangerous work; and introduces requirements relating to workplace registration, machinery licensing, occupational health monitoring and regulatory enforcement.

These reforms are particularly important for business owners, company directors, boards of directors, senior executives and those responsible for the governance and management of enterprises. Occupational safety and health compliance must be understood not merely as an operational or human resources function, but as an integral component of corporate governance, enterprise risk management and responsible business conduct. The legislative framework therefore calls for businesses to assess their existing workplace policies, safety procedures, internal controls and compliance arrangements against the requirements of the new Act.

Equally, the legislation is significant for employees, occupational safety and health practitioners, human resources professionals and other workplace stakeholders, whose respective rights, responsibilities and obligations form part of the broader regulatory framework. Its implementation will require an appreciation of both the legal requirements and the practical measures necessary to promote safe and healthy working environments.

Against this background, this article examines the principal reforms introduced by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2026, and considers their legal and practical implications for employers, business owners, company directors, employees and other stakeholders across Zimbabwe’s economy.

1.0 Commencement and Transitional Arrangements

The Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2026 came into operation on 16 October 2026, following its publication in the Government Gazette. The Act does not prescribe a general grace period for compliance or provide for phased implementation across different industries.

Section 2(1) extends its application to all workplaces, whether temporary or permanent. Although section 48 preserves certain regulations, approvals and other arrangements made under the repealed legislation, employers should begin assessing their existing workplace safety and health systems against the requirements of the new Act. Further regulations and codes of practice may provide additional guidance on specific compliance requirements.

2.0 A New Institutional Framework for Occupational Safety and Health
Parts II and VIII of the Act, establish institutional arrangements intended to support the administration, enforcement and medical oversight of occupational safety and health.

The Department of Occupational Safety and Health is established by section 4. This department shall be operated within NSSA and will be headed by a Director who is accountable to the General Manager. It shall be responsible for enforcing occupational safety and health standards, conducting research, compiling statistics and implementing the Accident Prevention and Workers’ Compensation Scheme.

The establishment of a dedicated department provides an institutional framework for coordinating workplace safety regulation and overseeing compliance.

Sections 5 – 9 provide for the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases, a specialised medical body appointed by NSSA. The Bureau comprises five members, including occupational medical practitioners, a specialist physician in lung diseases, a radiologist, a mine medical practitioner and the Director.

In terms of section 6, its functions include directing medical examinations, issuing health certificates, determining occupational diseases and making findings or decision on medical questions. Decisions concerning purely medical questions are legally binding under the Act. The Bureau’s role is particularly relevant to the identification, assessment and certification of occupational diseases, including conditions that may arise from prolonged exposure to workplace hazards.

Section 40 establishes the Zimbabwe Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Council as a 22-member body appointed by the Minister. Its composition includes six government representatives, six employer representatives, six employee representatives and an independent chairperson. The Council advises the Minister on occupational safety and health policy and provides a forum for engagement among government, employers and employees.

3.0 Safety and Health Services in the Workplace
Section 10 requires employers to establish occupational health services programmes and systems for identifying workplace hazards, assessing risks, monitoring workers’ exposure to hazardous agents and conducting risk-based health assessments. Employers must maintain and provide access to workplace surveillance records, report occupational diseases to the Medical Bureau of Occupational Diseases, and ensure that workers’ personal health information remains confidential.

Employers are now required to establish programmes promoting safe and healthy working environments. In terms of Section 12, employers with five or more workers must allow the appointment or election of safety and health representatives in each section or department. Where two or more representatives are appointed, safety and health committees must be established. The Minister may also prescribe workplaces required to employ a safety and health professional, with the employer bearing the implementation costs.

Employers should review their workplace health surveillance systems, risk assessment procedures and occupational safety programmes. They should also ensure that the required worker representation structures are in place and budget for the associated compliance costs.

4.0 What Duties Does the Act Impose on Employers and Workers?

Part IV establishes duties for employers, workers and other participants in the supply and use of workplace equipment and substances.

Section 13 requires every employer to provide and maintain a working environment that is safe and without risks to workers’ health. Employers must also establish, implement and maintain an Occupational Safety and Health Management System. This obligation requires employers to take a systematic approach to identifying workplace hazards, assessing risks and implementing appropriate preventive measures.

Under section 13(3), an employer who contravenes the prescribed safety duties and thereby causes injury to a worker or another person at a workplace commits an offence punishable by a fine of up to Level 14, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

Workers’ rights are recognized through section 14, which also imposes corresponding safety obligations. Workers have the right to refuse work presenting an imminent danger to their safety or health. They are also entitled to OSH training during paid working hours, consultation on workplace safety measures and access to specialist advice. Workers are also now protected against dismissal or victimisation for exercising their safety functions.

These protections are accompanied by duties to take reasonable care for their own safety and that of others, comply with lawful safety rules and instructions, and report accidents and hazards promptly.

The section also addresses interference with safety equipment. Wilfully or negligently interfering with, misusing or abusing safety appliances constitutes an offence punishable by a fine of up to Level 7, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.

4.1 Duties of Designers, Manufacturers and Suppliers
Responsibility for workplace safety is placed beyond employers and workers, in terms of section 15 of the Act. Designers, manufacturers, importers, sellers, distributors and suppliers of plant machinery, equipment and hazardous substances must ensure that their products are safe and do not pose health risks when properly used. They must also provide appropriate instruction manuals and safety information in languages that users can readily understand. Non-compliance attracts Category 1 civil penalties as specified in the First Schedule of the Act.

These obligations recognise that workplace risks may originate in the design, manufacture, supply or use of equipment and hazardous substances, rather than solely in workplace management.

4.2 Protection Against Victimisation and Safety-Related Deductions
Section 16 prohibits employers from deducting wages or requiring employees to make payments for safety measures required under the Act. It also protects workers against victimisation, penalties, changes to their conditions of service or dismissal for reporting safety breaches or cooperating with inspectors. Contravention is punishable by a fine of up to Level 14, imprisonment for up to two years, or both. These protections are intended to ensure that workers can raise safety concerns without bearing the cost of compliance or facing retaliation for doing so.

5.0 Workplace Registration and Control of Machinery
Part V introduces a registration and permitting framework for workplaces and prescribed machinery.

Sections 17 – 20 prohibit the occupation or use of a workplace without a Registration Certificate or Provisional Workplace Permit issued by NSSA. Building plans for new structures and structural alterations to existing workplaces must be submitted to NSSA in duplicate for approval before construction or alteration proceeds. Operating an unregistered workplace or undertaking unauthorised alterations may attract civil penalties.

Employers and business operators should therefore assess whether their premises are properly registered and whether proposed construction or structural changes require prior approval.

• Transfer and Surrender of Workplace Registration Certificates

Section 19 allows a workplace registration certificate to be transferred to a new employer with the approval of the Authority. Where an employer ceases to use the premises as a workplace and the certificate has not been transferred, the premises cease to be registered, and the employer must notify the Authority in writing and return the certificate within seven days. In cases of death, insolvency, liquidation or winding-up, a trustee, liquidator or executor may continue to occupy the premises for up to three months, or for any further period authorised by the Authority.

5.2 Registration and Inspection of Machinery

Section 21 requires prescribed machinery and equipment to undergo inspection by NSSA inspectors. Such machinery cannot be operated without a valid registration certificate Businesses that use machinery should identify the equipment covered by the statutory requirements and ensure that applicable registration and inspection obligations are met before operation.

5.3 Accident and Occupational Disease Records
Section 22 requires employers to maintain both an Accident Register and a Disease Register.

Employers must notify NSSA in writing as soon as possible following a workplace accident that causes death or injury resulting in three or more days’ absence from work, or when an occupational disease is diagnosed. The Act further requires the registers to be retained for at least 50 yes after the date of the last entry and produced to an inspector upon demand.

These requirements make accurate record keeping and timely reporting important aspects of workplace compliance. Employers should ensure that responsibility for maintaining registers, reporting incidents and preserving records is clearly allocated.

6.0 Inspection Powers and Enforcement Notices
Part VI establishes enforcement mechanisms through which inspectors may identify breaches and require corrective action.

Section 23 empowers the Authority to appoint inspectors from among its employees, members of the Public Service, or other suitably qualified and experienced persons. The Authority may also appoint a corporate body as an inspector, with designated officers and employees exercising inspection functions. Each inspector must be issued with identification and produce it upon request.

Sections 24 – 25 confer inspection powers on authorised inspectors. These include entering and inspecting workplaces without a warrant, questioning relevant persons, examining and seizing documents, taking samples, and dismantling or testing machinery. Obstructing an inspector constitutes an offence punishable by a fine of up to Level 14 or imprisonment for up to five years.

The scope of these powers means that employers should maintain accessible compliance records and ensure that relevant personnel understand how to respond to lawful inspections.

Under section 28, an inspector may issue an improvement notice where a contravention has occurred or is continuing. The notice specifies the remedial action required and allows a period of not less than 14 days for compliance. Failure to comply may result in Category 2 civil penalties, specified in the First Schedule and possible cancellation of the workplace registration certificate. An improvement notice therefore provides an opportunity to remedy an identified breach within the stipulated period, subject to the requirements of the notice and the Act.

Section 29 provides for prohibition notices where an activity presents an imminent risk of serious personal injury. Such a notice takes immediate effect and may prohibit specified activities or the use of particular plant or machinery until the identified matters have been remedied. Contravening a prohibition notice is punishable by a fine of up to Level 14, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

Unlike an improvement notice, which requires corrective action within a specified period, a prohibition notice addresses an immediate risk and can stop the affected operation without delay.

7.0 Corporate Liability, Civil Penalties and Appeals
The Act provides for individual accountability, administrative penalties and mechanisms for challenging specified decisions.

The Act governs the liability of directors, managers and other persons. Section 33 provides for the prosecution of directors, managers, corporate officers, agents and contractors in connection with specified workplace offences, alongside or in addition to proceedings against the corporate entity.

Under section 33(4), a director or manager seeking to rely on the statutory defence must establish that the act or omission occurred without their permission, that all reasonable steps were taken to prevent the breach, and that the act was outside the scope of employment of the agent responsible.

These provisions make it important for corporate leadership to maintain appropriate oversight of workplace safety and to ensure that reasonable preventive measures are implemented and documented.

7.1 Workplace Fatalities
Section 33(2) addresses cases in which a person causes the death of another at a workplace. The applicable sentencing framework shall be section 49 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23], which deals with culpable homicide.

The provision underscores the potential criminal consequences of workplace incidents resulting in death, subject to the applicable legal requirements.

7.2 The Civil Penalty Framework
The First Schedule establishes a tiered system of civil penalties, divided into Categories 1 to 5. The framework includes fixed penalties and daily cumulative penalties, with the latter described in the Schedule as extending to Level 3 per day for up to 90 days.

Unpaid civil penalties constitute liquidated debts recoverable through the courts. The Act also provides for joint and several liability of corporate officers in the circumstances prescribed by the legislation.

The civil penalty framework gives the regulatory system an administrative enforcement mechanism in addition to criminal prosecution. Businesses should therefore consider both the immediate cost of a breach and the potential consequences of continued non-compliance.

7.3 Appeals Against Decisions
Sections 32 and 45 provide for appeals in respect of specified determinations and decisions. The appeal structure includes recourse to the Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board or a Provincial Magistrate, as applicable, followed by an appeal to the Administrative Court where permitted by the Act.

The applicable forum and time limit depend on the nature of the decision being challenged. Any person intending to appeal should therefore identify the relevant statutory provision and comply with the prescribed procedure and deadline.

As discussed above, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2026 introduces a comprehensive framework for regulating workplace safety and occupational health in Zimbabwe. Its principal reforms include broader protection for workers, defined duties for employers and suppliers, mandatory workplace and machinery registration, expanded inspection powers, and civil and criminal consequences for specified breaches.

For employers and corporate leaders, compliance will require more than responding to accidents after they occur. It will involve reviewing workplace registration, assessing machinery requirements, maintaining accurate accident and disease records, implementing effective safety management systems and ensuring that workers can report hazards without fear of victimisation.

Workers, OSH practitioners and legal advisers also have an important role in understanding the rights, duties and enforcement mechanisms established by the Act. Familiarity with the new framework will be essential to managing legal exposure and promoting safer working environments.

For assistance with Occupational Safety and Health, Labour and Employment Law kindly contact us on info@mmmlawfirm.co.zw