Jomo Sibiya Warns Chronic Stress Makes Workplaces Unsafe

“A workplace cannot be considered safe if workers are protected from machinery but exposed to chronic stress” warns Employm 24 April 2026

Employment and Labour Deputy Minister, Jomo Sibiya told delegates during a commemoration today (24 April) that a workplace cannot be considered healthy if chemical hazards are managed, but violence, harassment, and emotional exhaustion are ignored.

“A workplace cannot be truly safe if it is psychologically unsafe. The psychosocial working environment is shaped by how work is designed, organised, and managed. Factors such as workload, working time, role clarity, leadership quality, autonomy, support, recognition, workplace justice, and participation directly affect workers' safety, health, dignity, and productivity.

“When these factors become harmful, they become psychosocial hazards. Stress, workplace violence, bullying, harassment, discrimination, job insecurity, excessive workloads, low decision-making control, and poor organisational culture are not personal problems, they are workplace risks. If left unmanaged, they lead to depression, anxiety, burnout, cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism, workplace conflict, declining productivity, and long-term economic loss.

Sibiya was delivering a keynote address at Emnotweni's Arena in Mbombela (Nelspruit) during the Department of Employment and Labour's commemoration of the 2026 World Day for Health and Safety at work. The day is part of advocacy highlight to the plight of the injured and diseased workers, as well as those who have fallen because of exposure to hazardous conditions.

The assembly brought together Department officials and inspectors, various government Departments, employers, workers, Compensation Fund, Federated Employers Mutual Assurance, and Rand Mutual Assurance, representatives of Business Unity South Africa, leaders of organised labour: Cosatu, Fedusa, Saftu, ILO and professionals.

Today's event comes on the eve of the World Day for Occupational Safety and Health which is celebrated annually by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on 28 April.

The theme of 2026 commemoration is: “Let's Ensure a Healthy Psychosocial Working Environment". World Day for Health and Safety is observed to promote safe, healthy, and decent work – while also serving to honour victims of occupational accidents and diseases.

Sibiya emphasised that highlighting health and safety: “This is not only a health issue. It is a governance issue, a labour issue, a productivity issue, and fundamentally, a human rights issue". He said workplaces are changing rapidly, “our responsibility remains constant: to ensure that every worker returns home safe, healthy, and whole. This requires a human-centred approach to the world of work - one that places people, and not only productivity, at the centre of policy, workplace design, and economic development.

He cited the newly-released ILO Global Report on “The Psychosocial Working Environment" which confirms the urgency of this challenge. Sibiya said the ILO report on estimates that psychosocial risks are responsible for deaths linked to cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders, he warned that these are not abstract statistics, “they represent exhausted workers, broken families, financial insecurity, mental distress, preventable illness, and lives lost unnecessarily".

Decent work must be built on dignity, fairness, inclusion, and protection, Sibiya further explained that Ergonomics Regulations remains one of the most powerful, yet often underestimated, tools of prevention. He noted that Ergonomics recognise that work must be designed to fit the worker, not the worker forced to fit into harmful working conditions.

“Psychosocial safety is not a soft issue. It is a hard requirement for sustainable productivity, economic resilience, and social justice. The true measure of leadership is not found in policy documents alone, but in whether workers feel safe when they arrive at work, respected while they perform their duties, and protected when they raise their voices," he said.

On the advocacy, Sibiya said the Department use the “carrot and stick" approach before it takes drastic steps. He said the Department's National OHS Strategy 2024–2029 provides a clear roadmap toward zero injuries and diseases.

According to Sibiya the strategy calls for stronger labour inspection and enforcement, improved employer compliance, stronger worker participation, better occupational health services, stronger reporting systems, inclusion of psychosocial risks, and meaningful partnerships across government, labour, business, and academia.

His take away message is that: “No occupational health and safety system can succeed without genuine social dialogue".

For media inquiries, please contact:

Teboho Thejane

Departmental Spokesperson

082 697 0694/ teboho.thejane@labour.gov.za

-ENDS-

Issued by: Department of Employment and Labour

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