Kampala, Uganda | URN | Workplace safety in Uganda is undergoing a quiet but significant transformation, shifting from the traditional focus on physical hazards to a more complex and often invisible frontier: mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. As the country prepares to mark the World Day for Safety and Health at Work on April 28, 2026, government officials are signalling a policy redirection that places stress, burnout, workplace harassment, and job insecurity at the center of occupational safety and health (OSH) reform.
The shift reflects a broader global recognition that economic productivity is increasingly tied to psychological well-being, and that labour policy can no longer ignore the mental strain of modern work environments. For nearly two decades, Uganda’s OSH framework has been anchored in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2006, which prioritizes physical workplace safety—protecting workers from injuries, hazardous substances, and unsafe environments.
However, at a press briefing at the Uganda Media Centre on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, State Minister for Labour, Employment and Industrial Relations Esther Anyakun Davinia described mental health as a “critical but often overlooked” dimension of occupational safety, signalling an expansion of regulatory thinking. The 2026 theme, “Building Psychosocial Resilience, Sustaining Uganda’s OSH Gains through Mental Wellbeing and Organizational Strengthening,” marks a deliberate attempt to institutionalize mental health within labour policy.
The minister cited rising workplace pressures, including long working hours, technological disruption, job insecurity, and harassment, as key drivers of stress-related conditions. “The modern workplace is evolving rapidly, and so are its risks,” she noted. Uganda’s policy shift aligns with international labour trends led by the International Labour Organization, particularly Convention No. 155 on Occupational Safety and Health, which increasingly recognizes psychosocial risks as part of workplace safety.
Globally, the stakes are significant. The World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy about $1 trillion annually in lost productivity, driven by absenteeism, reduced performance, and long-term disengagement. In Africa, experts caution that the burden is likely underreported due to weak diagnostic systems and stigma surrounding mental health.
Uganda’s labour force is estimated at over 25 million people, with more than 80 percent engaged in the informal sector, according to national development planning frameworks. While formal workplaces may adopt employee assistance programmes or occupational counselling, the majority of Ugandan workers—market vendors, boda boda riders, domestic workers, and smallholder farmers—operate outside regulated systems.
Dr. Charles Ayume, Member of Parliament for Koboko Municipality, warns that this gap distorts national understanding of workplace wellbeing. “Mental health in workplaces is often treated as a personal issue rather than a structural one. Yet it is directly linked to wages, job security, and working conditions,” he said. He argues that without data systems capturing psychosocial risks, policy responses remain reactive rather than preventive. The policy shift places Parliament at the center of a widening constitutional mandate. Under Article 79 of the Constitution of Uganda, Parliament is empowered to make laws for “peace, order, development and good governance.”
In practical terms, this includes ensuring that labour laws remain responsive to emerging risks such as psychosocial stress, and that government budgets reflect enforcement capacity. Parliamentary oversight is expected to focus on bridging gaps between the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2006, and the Mental Health Act, 2018, strengthening funding for labour inspections and workplace compliance, expanding mental health services beyond clinical treatment into prevention and workplace regulation, monitoring implementation across both formal and informal sectors, and ensuring alignment with international labour standards.
Chairperson of the Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development, Agnes Kunihira Abwoli, stresses that mental well-being is directly tied to national productivity. “You cannot sustain economic transformation if your workforce is psychologically strained. Stress increases absenteeism, reduces output, and raises healthcare costs,” she said. Uganda’s Mental Health Act, 2018, focuses primarily on rights, treatment, and protection of persons with mental illness.
However, it does not explicitly regulate workplace environments or employer obligations regarding psychosocial risks. This creates a regulatory gap between health policy and labour law, leaving mental well-being in workplaces largely unregulated. Uganda’s development strategy, anchored in Vision 2040 and the forthcoming National Development Plan IV, depends heavily on labour productivity gains. Yet persistent challenges—including underemployment, low wages, and informalisation—already constrain output.
Research from Makerere University’s School of Public Health and other studies indicates rising levels of stress among healthcare workers, teachers, and informal sector operators, although national data remains fragmented. Dr. Ayume argues that this lack of reliable data weakens policy response. “We are trying to manage a problem we are not systematically measuring,” he said.
Globally, countries that have integrated mental health into workplace regulation—such as parts of Europe and East Asia—report improved retention, reduced absenteeism, and stronger productivity indicators, though implementation varies widely.
