-consultations begin today

THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) has offered to help overhaul Guyana’s age-old Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) National Plan of Action, last revised in 1996.The Ministry of Social Protection (MSP) said in a statement yesterday that the ILO’s intervention begins today, and the organization will assist Guyana to update a number of key issues relative to the OSH sector.

The ILO and the MSP are also today scheduled to hold a national consultation on the global agency’s menu of support for Guyana. This will be done at a forum to be held at the Herdmanston Lodge at Anira and Peter Rose streets in Queenstown, Georgetown.

“In addition to helping (to bring) Guyana’s OSH Plan of Action in contemporary times,” the ministry says in the statement, “the ILO is also scheduled to help develop its national profile on OSH.”

According to a document pertaining to the proposed event, the ILO and the Government are expected to agree on a new national programme, which is expected to highlight Guyana’s priorities, objectives, and targets for “improving occupational safety and health within a pre-determined timeframe, and (determine) indicators to assess progress.”

The MSP says the OSH modernisation plan is also expected to provide data on occupational accidents and diseases, high-risk industries and occupations, and a description of the national OSH system and its current capacity.

“The overhauled policy will also include Guyana’s commitment to preventing occupational accidents and diseases; the overarching principles undergirding its action on OSH; and the functions and responsibilities of the principal stakeholders.”

Minister Keith Scott of the Ministry of Social Protection will deliver the feature address. Other speakers are: Ms. Lorene Baird, Permanent Secretary of the MoSP; Mr. Lincoln Lewis, General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC); Mr. Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG); Mr. Samuel Goolsarran, Consultant/Advisor of the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industries (CAGI); and Ms. Claudia Coenjaerts, Director, Decent Work Team and Office for the ILO’s Caribbean Office.