Uganda Breweries marks 10 years of No Lost Time in operation, gets OHS Excellence award

UGANDA – Uganda Breweries Limited (UBL), a subsidiary of East African Breweries Ltd, has marked 10 and 15 years of No Lost Time at the brewery & the spirits plant, International Distillers Uganda (IDU), respectively.

The company noted the achievement during the 2023 International Labour Day commemoration organized by the Ugandan Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development.

The brewery was accorded an excellence award in Occupational Health and Safety from the Ministry alongside Roofings Group (1st runner-up) and Cipla Quality Chemical Industries Ltd (2nd runner-up).

“As a manufacturer, we are greatly committed to ensuring the safety of our staff on and off-site, and we are privileged to have been honored for it. We believe our employees are the most important members of our value chain because the core of our business rotates around them,” UBL noted.

The Ministry sent its inspectors from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, together with the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE) representatives, to the company twice to conduct workplace inspections and understand its management systems.

According to UBL, the award confirms that with the systems it has put in place, no employee at both plants has had an accident that necessitated them to miss work for even a day.

The company has also partnered with the Ministry of Health – Uganda and Malaria Free Uganda to undertake a sensitization and awareness campaign on Malaria in the buildup to WorldMalariaDay.

Malaria is currently the number one killer disease in Uganda, taking in 20% of all hospital deaths and 30-50% of admissions.

Uganda Breweries will support the ZeroMalariaStartsWithMe campaign of Malaria Free Uganda by running sensitization messages on social media to create more awareness of malaria ahead of World Malaria Day.

The awareness will cover prevention mechanisms & encouraging Ugandans to test for & acquire treatment for malaria whenever they get symptoms.

“The majority of our population are hesitant to do even the basics like sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net, but we believe concerted effort in sensitization will make the difference. Join us in the fight.” Corporate Relations, Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs Manager Jackie Tahakanizibwa said.

Tahakanizibwa acknowledged the need to work together as the public and private sectors to mitigate disease spread because a healthy nation is good for businesses. Other private sector companies in the drive include SafeBoda, Jumia Uganda, NBS Television, and Uganda Baati Ltd.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Atwine Diana thanked Uganda Breweries for always leading the way among private sector players whenever there are drives that impact communities adding that the country saw masses get vaccinated when UBL fronted Bell Lager in the Raising the Bar campaign for covid-19 vaccination.

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