OSHA’s chief executive: A reduction in fees has not affected operations of the authority

Dar es Salaam. The Occupational and Safety Health Authority (OSHA) revealed that its operations have not been affected by the removal and reduction of some service fees worth more than Sh35 billion.

Speaking to the editors from different media houses in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, December 7, OSHA’s chief executive, Ms Khadija Mwenda, said the authority conducted a review of the sequence of its activities (Business Process Review) and identified areas that needed improvements in the provision of services, including the issue of fees.

“Among the areas that seemed to need improvement was to reduce or remove some service fees that would not affect the management and delivery of safety and health services at the workplace in the country,” she said.

Thus, OSHA recommended that the fees should be reduced or abolished and President Samia Suluhu Hassan agreed that the service fees should be revised, which resulted in the removal and reduction of 13 service fees.

The scrapping and reducing of the fees goes in line with the implementation of the Blueprint for Regulatory Reforms to Improve the Business Environment (Blueprint) in an effort to turn Tanzania into a more investor-friendly destination.

Ms Mwenda noted that President Hassan directed that companies should spend the money they would have paid OSHA as fees to strengthen systems to protect workers so that they can produce productively.

The meeting between the OSHA management and editors was a continuation of public institutions coming out to meet with editors and tell the public about their achievements and challenges.

The review included; removing the workplace registration fee that was charged at rates between Sh50,000 and Sh1.8 million, removing the fee for the compliance form that was being charged at Sh20,000 and cancelling the fines charged for lack of fire extinguishing equipment, which used to be Sh500,000, removing the certification licence fee that was being charged at Sh200,000 per year.

Other reviews include; removing the professional advice fee of Sh450,000, removing the public education training fee that was being charged to the tune of Sh250,000 for each participant, and reducing the accident investigation fee that was between Sh500,000 and Sh120,000. The allergy test fee that was charged at Sh25,000 per employee has also been removed.

The peek expiratory flow test fee that was being charged at Sh10,000 per employee was also removed. The fee for electrical system inspection services in rural fuel stations has been reduced from Sh650,000 to Sh150,000.

“This reduction was aimed at encouraging investment in those areas,” Ms Mwenda noted.

She also added; “It was also intended to reduce the effects that may arise from the habit of handling oil in water bottles and cans, an issue that endangers the lives of citizens in those areas, and to remove the inspection fee for the installation of gas pumps for each station,” she said.

She added: “It is obvious that the fees cancelled or reduced by OSHA have brought relief that has stimulated the growth of business and investment in the country, including increasing employment for Tanzanians.”

OSHA is responsible for overseeing occupational safety and health by ensuring that employers have in place infrastructure and systems to ensure safety and health at the work places.