PsySSA Commemorates World Day for Safety and Health at Work

 

Today, PsySSA joins the global community in recognising the importance of creating safe, healthy, and dignified working environments for all.

Through contributions from our Climate, Environment and Psychology Division (CEPD) and Health Psychology Division (HPD), we highlight both the lived realities of waste reclaimers in South Africa and broader approaches to promoting safety and wellbeing in the workplace. The CEPD visuals foreground the critical yet often overlooked conditions faced by waste reclaimers, while the HPD contribution (featured in the final graphic) emphasises the importance of supportive work cultures, communication, and psychosocial wellbeing.

Safety and health at work extend beyond formal employment spaces. They include the right to protection, respect, fair conditions, and access to supportive systems for all workers — including those in informal sectors.

As psychology professionals, we are called to promote wellbeing by advocating for inclusive policies, fostering supportive work cultures, and recognising the structural factors that shape health and safety outcomes.

Let us continue to centre dignity, equity, and social justice in how we understand and respond to work and wellbeing.