Namibia

Organization responsible for the statistics

Ministry of Labour.

Periodicity

Annual.

Source

Employees' Compensation Commissioner (ECC), since February 1996 part of the Social Security Commission.

Objectives and users

To determine assessment rates for employers.
To define priority areas for the step by step improvement of working conditions and the work environment in Namibia.
To define a baseline for monitoring future trends.

Major users:

government organizations, employers and employees' organizations, private enterprises.

Coverage

Persons:

All persons earning 4,800 Namibian dollars per year or less, and those employees earning more than 4,800 Namibian dollars per year with a special arrangement with the Commission, who have entered into or work under a contract of service of apprenticeship or learnership with an employer.

About 250,000 workers are covered by the Social Security Scheme.

Economic activities:

All economic activities and sectors.

Geographic areas:

Whole country.

The statistics include persons temporarily outside Namibia who are employed by Namibian registered companies. Persons normally resident outside the country are not covered, unless the employer has agreed with the Commission to cover those employees and paid contributions for them.

Establishments:

All establishments with one or more employees.

Types of occupational accidents covered

The statistics cover compensated injuries due to all types of occupational accidents. Occupational diseases are also included in the statistics, as are commuting accidents under the following conditions:

if the accident is connected with the employer's business;
if the worker was given permission to perform the job; and
if the employer is satisfied with the circumstance of the accident.

Concepts and definitions

(Source: Workmen's Compensation Act, No. 30 of 1941).

Occupational accident or injury:

an accident arising out of and in the course of an employee's employment and resulting in a personal injury; it is unexpected, unplanned and unwanted.

Minimum period of absence from work: more than three days.

Maximum period for death to be considered a fatal occupational injury: within one year of the accident.

Types of information compiled

(a) personal characteristics of persons injured: sex, citizenship, date of birth, address;

(b) amount of worktime lost:

(d) characteristics of injuries: location of injury, injury description;

(e) characteristics of employers or workplaces: economic activity.

Measurement of worktime lost

Worktime lost is measured in calendar days, for all types of occupational injuries, as follows:

temporary incapacity for work: the full period of absence from work (compensation is paid for the full period of absence if the person is absent for two weeks or longer, up to a maximum of 24 months; for absences of less than two weeks, compensation is not paid for the first three days of absence);
permanent incapacity to work: in accordance with the first schedule of the Workmen's Compensation Act: total permanent loss of one or more limbs, including the loss of the use of a limb;
fatal injury: a standard formula is used.

To calculate the period of absence from work, the first day of absence is the day on which the employee ceases work as a result of the injury without completing his full shift. Sundays and public holidays falling at the beginning or end of the period of absence are included.

Temporary absences for medical treatment are not counted as worktime lost, unless they last for more than three days.

Classifications

(a) fatal or non-fatal accidents;

(b) extent of disability;

(c) economic activity:

agriculture, forestry, etc.; fishing, etc.; mining, quarrying, sand pits, etc.; building, construction, etc.; foods, drinks, tobacco, etc.; textiles, etc.; wood industry, upholstery, etc.; printing and paper industry, etc.; chemical industries, rubber, oil, paints, etc.; non-metallic minerals, pottery, glass, etc.; iron, steel, artificial limbs, galvanizing, garages, metals, etc.; jewellers, diamonds, asbestos, bitumen, etc.; trade, commerce, etc.; banking, finance, insurance, etc.; air, road, transport hauliers, etc.; local authorities, divisional councils, power stations, etc.; personal services, hotels, flats, etc.; entertainment, sport, etc.; medical services, animal hospitals, etc.; professional services, etc.; education services, etc.; charitable, religious, political and trade organizations, etc.;

(d) occupation;

(e) type of injury;

(f) cause of accident;

(g) duration of absence from work;

(h) characteristics of workers;

(i) characteristics of accidents;

(j) characteristics of employers or workplaces.

Crossclassifications:

type of injury and branch of economic activity, sex, age and workplace.

Reference period

One year (the financial year); in the future they will be compiled for periods of six months.

An occupational injury is included in the statistics for the period in which the claim for compensation was submitted and in the period when compensation for the injury began.

Worktime lost is recorded in each of the periods in which worktime was lost.

Estimates

Total number of persons injured and total worktime lost.

Rates of fatal injuries and non-fatal injuries.

Historical background of the series

The statistics were first compiled in 1991.

Changes will be introduced in 1996/1997 following the promulgation of regulations under the Labour Act (No. 6 of 1992), part XI.

Documentation

Series available:

No tables are regularly produced for publication.

Bibliographic references:

The data for 1991 were published as a separate paper; in 1994, they appeared in:

Labour Advisory Council: First Annual Report.

Not all data are published. Additional data or extracts of the data could be made available on request, addressed to the General Manager of the Social Security Commission. The data could be made available on diskette, using a variety of software.

Data published by ILO:

The following data have been furnished to the ILO since 1990 for publication in the Yearbook of Labour Statistics, relating to compensated injuries (including occupational diseases and commuting accidents) according to major division of economic activity: number of persons fatally injured, number of persons injured including those without lost workdays, total of these two groups.

Confidentiality:

There are no restrictions on the publication of the available data on occupational injuries, except that individual fatalities should not be identifiable. For enterprises, individual economic activities are not revealed and normal administrative procedures are adhered to.

International standards

The current ILO statistical standards and guidelines were followed when the statistical system was established.

Representative organizations of employers and workers were consulted when the concepts, definitions and methods used for collecting and compiling the statistics were designed, in accordance with the relevant regulations under the Labour Act.

Method of data collection

Legislation:

Employees' Compensation Act (No. 5 of 1995).

All occupational injuries and diseases are covered by the compensation scheme. Claims for compensation should be submitted within thirty days of the accident.

Reporting:

A standard claim or injury report form is completed by the employer, who keeps one copy (Part A) and sends the other (Part B) to the medical practitioner or hospital concerned. The employer then sends the first medical report received from the medical practitioner or hospital along with Part A to the Social Security Commission. Instructions are included in the form, and there is also a publication providing guidance. If the employee has not resumed work at the time the report is submitted, a resumption report is completed as soon as he resumes duty.

Types of data:

The following information is included in the claim form:

information about the employer: name; address; nature of business, trade or industry; plant or section in which the employee is employed; Social Security Commission registration number;
information about the employee: name; address; nationality; identity number; date of birth; sex; married or single; occupation; earnings at the time of the accident, per month or week (gross cash earnings including average payments for overtime and commission of a constant character; allowances of a recurrent nature: bonuses, others; cash value of free food; cash value of free lodgings);
information about the accident: date, time and place of the accident; date the employee reported the accident; how the accident occurred and what the employee was doing at the time; whether the employee's action at the time of the accident was in connection with the trade or business of the employer; employer's assessment of the validity of the employee's allegations regarding the accident; nature of injury sustained (type of injury and part and side of body injured);
whether the injured person is a working director or the owner of or a partner in the business;
whether the accident was caused by the employee's:
- deliberate non-compliance with directions;
- reckless disregard of the terms of any law or statutory regulation designed to ensure the safety or health of employees or the prevention of accidents;
- drunkenness;
and, if any of the above, an explanatory statement furnished by the employee;
name and address of anyone who witnessed the accident, and of any other person who was aware of the accident at the time;
length of employment of the employee in the business; whether he had any physical defect, or suffered from any serious disease prior to the accident, or previously received compensation for permanent disability;
whether the employee continued to receive free food or lodgings during temporary disablement;
whether the employer was prepared to make cash payments during temporary disability under the terms of the Employees' Compensation Act or had already made them;
date and time when the employee ceased work and when he resumed work; number of days per week worked by the employee; whether the employee completed his shift on the day of the accident;
where relevant:
- name of police station which investigated the accident;
- registration number of any motor vehicles involved in the accident;
- number of other employees injured in the same accident.
where relevant:
- whether the employer provided first aid;
- name of the medical practitioner who treated the employee;
- name of the hospital where the employee received treatment;
name and address of dependents or next-of-kin of the employee;
any additional details or comments regarding the accident.

Changes planned:

It is planned to change the notification system in 1996/1997 following the promulgation of the new regulations under the Labour Act (No. 6 of 1992) part XI.

Additional information

At present, under the terms of the Factories, Machinery Building Work Ordinance 1952, any accident or disease occurring in a factory or premises where machinery is used, or where building or excavation work is being performed, which caused loss of human life or injuries to any person to the extent that he is unable or likely to be unable for fourteen days or more to earn full wages at the work for which he was employed at the time of the accident employed, should be reported within a fixed time limit.

In the future, new regulations will be promulgated under the Labour Act (No. 6 of 1992), Part XI.

Labour inspectors' investigations of accidents, which are reported to the Ministry of Labour, cover the following:

information about the employer: name, address, department in which the accident occurred;
information about the victim: name, sex, date and place of birth, identity number, occupation;
information about the accident: date and time of accident; whether the accident was notified by the employer; method by which information about the accident was received;
how the accident happened: description of how and in which circumstances the accident occurred, the kind of work being carried out and whether the situation was normal or exceptional;
consequence of the accident: the nature and seriousness of the injury and the injured part of the body;
sequence of the accident: inspector's opinion about the cause of the accident (both direct and indirect causes);
technical equipment involved: the machine, device, equipment, process, etc. which caused or which was involved in the accident (including the manufacturer, importer, type and year of manufacture);
prevention of similar accidents: the inspector's advice on how the accident could have been technically prevented, and any other advice for the employer in order to prevent similar accidents.