Employees electing not to join medical aid schemes a concern
Construction and civil engineering industry professionals are reluctant to join medical aid schemes, citing monetary concerns as a primary deterrent.
The Building and Construction Industry Medical Aid Fund (BCIMA) states that this is a concerning trend, given the number of work-related injuries and fatalities associated with these industries.
The Construction Industry Development Board’s report on construction health and safety in South Africa cites the industry as having long contributed disproportionately to the number of work-related fatalities and injuries globally, as one in every six work-related fatalities occur at construction sites.
BCIMA broker relationships manager Ferdi Snyman says with employee risk levels in the building, construction and civil engineering industries being so high, medical aid in these industries ought to be compulsory. “The BCIMA is working towards creating a greater awareness among [affected] groups [in these industries] to get their members covered.”
He reiterates that workers claim that they cannot afford to join any medical aid scheme, owing to a lack of funds, despite employers who offer the BCIMA as a medical aid scheme having elected to pay 50% of the membership contribution on behalf of employees.
“The health and wellbeing of workers in these high-risk industries ought to be of paramount importance. We have undertaken several projects to spread awareness of the importance of health and safety precautions in these industries,” he points out.
One such project is Training on the Move, also known as TOM. This includes the sponsoring of the South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors (SAFCEC) and the Master Builders Association – North (MBA – North) safety vehicles. The two SAFCEC and one MBA-North safety vehicles currently in operation travel as far as Windhoek, Namibia, to Cape Town, South Africa. The TOM safety vehicle programme manages safety training on site at SAFCEC and MBA-North member companies.
BCIMA states that it would support a collective bargaining council decision to introduce compulsory medical aid cover in these industries. “Total medical aid cover would be a benefit for employee and employer . . . because, if you hope to achieve maximum production levels, you need healthy employees,” concludes Snyman.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation