SOME 492 work place accidents were recorded last year, resulting in 24 fatalities; but only 201 of these cases were investigated.Minister with the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott, reported that all the fatal accidents were investigated, and corrective recommendations were submitted to the relevant authorities. However, he said the shortcomings of the Department of Labour Administration in regard to its inability to monitor for preventative purposes continue to prevail.

The department comprises the Industrial Relations and Occupational Health and Safety units. The two were merged in 1997. According to Scott, the merger did not only make specialists into generalists, but also caused a serious decline in the effectiveness with which services were delivered to the public, and even to the State.

Minister Scott said the constraint to monitor for preventative purposes is as a consequence of a lack of resources, including financial and material resources.
Most of the fatalities, he said, occurred in the hinterland, in the mining sector, which is not easy to access.

“Even though we have been greatly assisted by the GGMC [Guyana Geology and Mines Commission], and we are grateful to them, our ability to effectively monitor work places in the hinterland regions is limited. Further, the fact that the department is now staffed by generalists rather than specialists (makes) the short comings even more manifest. This situation can, and must, be changed,” Minister Scott said.

He added: “Mr Speaker, the department’s performance, over the years under the merger, has never been impressive. We have been unable to meet our inspection targets, and were also not able to resolve enough complaints in a timely manner. We believe that, in order to reverse these unfavourable trends, the departments should be separated or delinked.”

The minister informed the House that the Social Protection Ministry has been contemplating delinking the units for quite some time, and is taking incremental steps to make it a reality.

CORRECTING FLAW
For starters, the delinking is intended to give rise to the development of specialist officers who are capable of delivering a better quality of service. In addition, they would be exposed to professional training in both the local and international environments.

“It is anticipated that a positive outcome of these initiatives would be a manifestation of a higher level of compliance by many employers who, at the moment, exhibit a high proclivity for observing our labour laws in the breach,” Minister Scott informed the House.

He also said that the maintenance of a calm and stable industrial relations climate that is conducive to investment is a main function of the Labour Department,
but added: “I need not comment on the economic cost of strikes. Suffice it to say that they have a negative impact on the national coffers, particularly when they occur in any of the industries which significantly add to national gross domestic product (GDP).

“In 2015, a total of 191 strikes were recorded, consuming some 71, 591 man days, compared to the 197 strikes registered in 2014 that accounted for 32,064 Man days. An analysis of these figures means, Sir, that while in 2015, there were fewer strikes, the duration of those strikes was much longer, and that is a cause for concern.

“For example, the approximate man days lost per strike in 2014 was 163; while, in 2015, the average man days lost per strike was 375. This is just another way of saying that, in 2015, striking workers were more than doubly resolved than they were in 2014,” Minister Scott said.

He told the National Assembly that Government takes no comfort in such situation, and is currently examining the traditional Early Warning System with a view to strengthening it where possible, and introducing it to other areas for the first time.

“This, in our opinion, will help in monitoring the conditions which are likely to give rise to strike action. Once these are identified, they will be controlled or eliminated, thereby allowing a healthy industrial relations climate to emerge and prevail,” the minister said.