News

The University of Botswana is in the process of developing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Occupational Hygiene, environmental health, toxicology, and climate change and health.

This was revealed by the Acting Vice Chancellor, Mr Dawid Katzke, at the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) held at the Debswana offices in Gaborone on May 25, 2023. The MoU to paves way for the establishment of the Occupational Hygiene (OH) Programme in Botswana.

The MoU was signed by the University of Botswana together with Debswana, Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs, Botswana Chamber of Mines and Botswana Association for Occupational Hygiene.

Mr Katzke said the MOU came at the right time to facilitate the development of programmes that met Botswana's environmental and occupational health industry needs. The MoU also comes against the background that Botswana only has 32 occupational hygiene personnel across sectors which is a far cry of what the country needs to ensure health and safety in the workplace.

“As a university, we stand ready to support the initiative to fast-track Botswana’s occupational hygiene programmes and services,” said Mr Katzke after noting the development of an implementation plan that would follow the MoU.

He said as the developers of the occupational hygiene programme, the University of Botswana endeavoured to contribute to the prevention and control of hazards arising from work processes.

In addition, Mr Katzke said the University sought to contribute to the protection and promotion of workers' health, environmental protection besides contributing to a safe and sustainable development by developing a competitive occupational hygiene qualification and training learners who will be functional in any work environment globally.

Nonetheless, Mr Katzke highlighted that the University of Botswana and other partners had been working together in training students in Environmental Health with occupational hygiene offered as a component of the programme. “Our journey with Debswana and other partners dates back to 2004, when the Department of Environmental Health, UB, was established,” he noted.

He said staff from the Debswana Department of Safety and Sustainable Development, Occupational Hygiene Section became a part of UB’s teaching team in Environmental and Occupational Health, where they served as guest lecturers.

The Acting Vice Chancellor also observed that Debswana and other partners continued to support the University by offering internship opportunities to students. “Over the years, these partners have expressed satisfaction with the quality of the students from the Department, and they have continued to absorb our students after completing their Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Health,” he said.

Mr Katzke furthered reckoned that in addition the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs contributed to the development of the University of Botswana’s occupational health and safety laboratories as well as teaching.