OCCUPATIONAL Health and Safety Month 2023 got off to a great start on Sunday when the Ministry of Labour hosted a walk under the theme, ‘A safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental principle and right to work’.

The walk commenced at the Ministry of Labour’s Brickdam office and concluded at the Square of the Revolution, where Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, expressed his thanks to the hundreds who participated.

Minister Hamilton said that the ministry will continue to educate both employees and employers on safe workplace practices to reduce the number of workplace incidents and fatalities.
At the launch of Occupational Safety and Health Month last Friday, Minister Hamilton said that the ministry had requested that workplaces in Georgetown and Regions One to 10 execute programmes as part of this year’s observance.

He said that the response has been positive so far and noted that workplaces had identified several initiatives which include fire prevention and first aid, hanging banners, safety and health competitions, and hazard hunts.

Meanwhile, the ministry will host a host a number of activities throughout the month. Aside from the launch and the walk (others will be held across the country), there will be radio interviews and engagements with employees and employers in the mining sector, agriculture sector and other sectors.

Additionally, outreaches that aim to focus on the safety of miners and construction workers while at work and their safe return to their friends and families at the end of the work day are also planned.

Over 800 persons participated in this year’s Occupational Safety and Health Walk, some of whom are working in the public and private sector. They were joined by their relatives, Chairman of the National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH), Earl Morris, and British High Commissioner to Guyana, Jane Miller, and other officials.