AS part of efforts to commemorate Occupational Safety and Health Month, more than 20 persons from eight mining companies along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway benefitted from a safety awareness exercise from April 03 to 05 2024.

These companies included the Lennox John Sandpit, VALS Construction, Mohamed’s Excavating Construction Inc., Guyana Gold Shields, Silica Sandport Inc., the GuyAmerica Construction Sandpit, the Bhaskarran Sandpit, and BK International Inc.

According to the Ministry of Labour, the training was facilitated through a collaboration among the Environmental Division- Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Unit of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Mining School and Training Centre Inc (GMSTCI), and the Ministry of Labour’s OSH Department.

The safety awareness exercise was centered on the importance of the proper use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), hazards associated with night and lone working, dust management measures, emergency response awareness, noise hazard awareness and control, and fire safety awareness.

Senior OSH Officer Mr. Darwin Bourne represented the ministry on this front. This year, OSH Month is being celebrated under the theme, “We are running out of time: Ensuring Safe and Healthy Work Now in a Changing Climate”.
As a result of this, the ministry has heightened training and awareness sessions, underscoring the importance of and need for ensuring protocols are in place for safe and healthy workplaces as the environment changes.