It was in the month of April, that Guyana joined with the rest of the world in observing Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Month. The observances were held under the theme “Investing in OSH systems, capitalising on safety and healthy working environments in times of crisis.”

Pepperpot Magazine, in an exclusive interview with Latoya Jack, owner of Kronoco Safety Solutions spoke about what her company is doing to ensure the safety of workers across the country.
“We currently do three main things for our clients. We offer training, so if a company comes to us and they are interested and they have the mechanism, they have things in place for their employees to be in a safe working environment, for their employees to have employees benefit, for them to basically manage a safe workspace, we support them by offering them training,” Jack explained. “Some companies want to have driver’s training, some companies want to have a general awareness of safety health and then other companies have specific high-risk activities that they need to be training for their employees. The thing that we are most popular for is driver’s safety.”

Jack also noted that Kronoco Solutions is the leading safety company when it comes to defensive driving in the country.
Secondly, she made mention that road safety is near and dear to the company’s hearts.

Jack was careful to note that some companies don’t have safety mechanisms in place to make their employees feel safe and the environment in which they function in.
She noted that ensuring the safety of the employee and their workplace is combined with training to achieve a safe culture within the organisation.

“Most of the clients, we work with doesn’t necessarily need for safety, there is a need for safety and training but they just don’t want to manage it themselves,” Jack told Pepperpot Magazine.
It was also noted during her interview that most of the response that has been garnered, has been from manufacturing companies, security firms and companies who wish to become part of the oil and gas sector.

Entities must be in compliance with the laws of Guyana regarding Occupational Health and Safety practices and be able to create a safe environment for workers.
“Apart from Industry’s best practices, there are international standards, organisations of the world brought together all stakeholders and set standards that will govern all aspects of our lives. There are the ISO standards for quality, safety, and environmental operation. These standards are among a list of requirements that covers all businesses that have these risks,” Jack said.

Meanwhile Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton in a Guyana Chronicle’s article dated April 6, 2021 announced that as far as the Government is concerned there is a great need for us to place an increased focus on good workplace safety and health practices, and promote the safety and health culture in Guyana.

He opined that investing in Occupational Safety and Health systems and the workplace is a necessity and can save lives.
Hamilton noted that the Ministry of Labour is currently in the process of employing 21 new OHS officers as part of efforts to ensure that all workers across Guyana have equitable access to more efficient services.

According to the Minister, OHS officers will be trained to deal directly with sectors such as construction and forestry.