A critical analysis of the Angolan Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) law and the protection it offers to employees of the oil and gas industry

This study is specifically concerned with the effect of occupational health and safety (hereafter OHS) law in Angola and the protection it offers to employees in the oil and gas industry. The current Angolan OHS legislation continues to be characterised by the pre-independence legal system inherited from the colonial era, which creates a crisis of legitimacy and justice. This crisis may be resolved through the ratification of the International Labour Organisation OHS conventions. This dissertation examines workplace health and safety in Angola from a legal perspective in detail, and explores international instruments that are used to protect employees from unhealthy and unsafe conditions. An analysis of the relevant source materials reveals a disjunction between the international standards and the laws as implemented in Angola. It is a fact that the law is expected to offer as far as is possible reasonable health and safety protection to employees. Evidence demonstrates, however, that these laws have largely failed to meet expectations. The problem is not only the fragmentation and inconsistency of the OHS laws, but also that the framework is in need of revision and a dedicated plan to resolve the gaps in the existing legislation. The study thus explores the discontinuities and deficiencies of the regulatory framework as well as of the enforcement mechanisms. Similarly, it proposes an extensive shift of emphasis away from the current legal debate to focus on the relevant issues that will offer substantive protection to the health and safety of employees, as well as justice in law reform. Various steps need to be taken to ratify the OHS conventions in order to improve the deficient framework of OHS legislation in Angola.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Commercial Law

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Domingos, Anacleto Gaspar

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Collier, Debbie

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13186

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13186