The ministry in charge of worker safety in Samoa has acknowledged that there is an underreporting of work place accidents causing injuries to workers.
A Samoa Occupational, Safety and Health Framework report launched by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labor (MCIL) shows an average of only 27 cases of in work accidents resulting in staff injury are officially reported.
MCIL CEO Pulotu Lyndon Chu Ling told the Newsline newspaper, the underreporting has been happening for some time and may be continuing.
He says the ministry learns about the majority of accidents from media reports not the ministries where the accidents occur.
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The CEO said sometimes they only learn about an on the job accident when the injured worker’s family or the injured worker themselves shows up for a claim.
MCIL works with the Accident Compensation Corporation in handling accidents in the workplace because there’s compensation involved for the injured.
The ACC is responsible for payment of compensation from the fund collected through deductions from staff salaries and wages.
The CEO believes the under reporting is due to lack of awareness, not just on the part of employers but employees as well.
He said the ministry seems to be making inroads with awareness programs they’ve carried out on the reporting process and compensation entitlements.
