The Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, and Employment Creation has approved the resumption of construction at Woermann Brock Supermarket in Windhoek's Hochland Park.
The supermarket was previously ordered to halt operations due to health and safety concerns.
The Acting Executive Director in the Ministry of Labour says Woermann Brock was instructed to cease its retail-related services and construction work as per the Regulations Relating to Health and Safety of Employees at Work.
This, Aune Mudjanina says, was effective from the 30th of July and will be valid until such a time when Woermann Brock rectifies all the identified hazardous and safety risk areas.
"The WB as an employer has failed to provide a working environment that is safe and without risk to the safety and health of employees and clients by requiring employees to work in the supermarket while major construction work is taking place. allowing employees to work while wiring activities are taking place above their heads, allowing construction work to take place in the market without partitioning areas with high-risk activities, and allowing the public to enter the market while major construction is taking place."
The ministry highlighted Woermann Brock's failure to assess hazards and risks attached to the work being carried out and to provide suitable personal protective equipment to its employees and contractors.
The ministry has therefore recommended remedial actions that Woermann Brock has to implement in order to address non-compliance.
"After WB received their notice of closure, they looked into the operations and implemented some of the remedial measures indicated by the ministry, and on the 31st, the labour inspectors came back to do a reinspection of what they had fixed and considered reopening the construction activities only."
Woermann Brock's General Manager Braam Van Niekerk, said the supermarket is undergoing major renovations, which are expected to complete by the by the end of August.
He confirmed that the contractors and Woermann staff in store did not have all the PPE as per the visit from the ministry and that they did stop construction.
However, this has been dealt with, and PPES have been provided to both staff and contractors, and construction work has resumed after the second inspection by the ministry.
Van Niekerk says they have asked the ministry for directives in relation to what is expected from them before opening the store again and will ensure to implement those guidelines to protect both staff and consumers before opening again.