Supervisors, human resource managers and laboratory technicians drawn from ten factories operating in Gasabo District, Kigali city, yesterday, completed a two- day training workshop on safety at work places.  The workshop mainly focused on health, safety, and the welfare of the employees at the work place. Speaking after the workshop, Justin Mfizi, an expert in occupational health and safety who was also the facilitator, urged workers to advocate for their health and safety rights at work places. "The aim of this training is to create awareness and promote health and safety of employees at work places.  This is something that employers need to understand and uphold. Employees have the right to work in a healthy and safe environment.” According to Damascene Gakuba, the Labour Inspector of Gasabo District, employees face many hazards in their work places. "Luckily, when workers are trained on health and safety at their work premises, they are likely to protect themselves. For example, if factory workers are not provided with protective gear or trained on the essence of why they should put on the gear, they are likely to encounter accidents,” said GakubaIn an interview with The New Times, Antoinette Umuhoza, the Human Resource Manager of Utexrwa, Rwanda’s sole textile manufacturer, said she would apply the skills attained in her work place.

"Most workers at Utexrwa are likely to get injured since they operate machinery that is risky and which could lead to injuries.I intend to pass on the skills I have obtained in this training to them so that they can work in a safe and healthy environment.”