IN April, Health and Safety in the Workplace Month was designated worldwide by the International  Labour Organisation (ILO) to prevent accidents and disease, and promote general well-being at the workplace.  This year’s commemoration theme was, “We are running out of time: Ensuring Safe and Healthy Work now in a Changing Climate”, and highlights the roles of workers, employers and the State in the workplace.
Climate Change is now beginning to have severe effects on the world of work, and this is experienced by those who work outdoors in physically demanding industries such as Construction and Mining.

Indoor workers who are in hot and poorly ventilated premises are equally at risk.  Although our focus will be on the workplace, Health and Safety in the Home Environment are equally important, especially for children and women.
Before the Industrial Revolution, when Agriculture was the main employer, far fewer deaths occurred on the farms than in the new industrial factories with their machines with large numbers of workers congregating under one roof.  Workers would die or be injured from unprotected saws, falling debris, heat of the unventilated factories, and inhalation of dangerous dust or chemicals. In industries such as mining, construction, logging, security, transportation by large vehicles, vulcanization, and even aeronautics, workers would lose their lives or be injured.
Eventually, after World War II, Society became more aware of the necessity of protecting the health and safety of workers.  The injury or death of a worker on the job ceased to be regarded as a risk that the worker themself took, and that the responsibility, therefore, rested with the worker.  It came to be realised that the employer and the employer organisations, the Trade Unions and the State were the stakeholders, and owed a duty to protect the worker.

In Guyana, it is estimated that 20 to 30 workers per year lose their lives in various industries, the majority being in the mining and construction industries with the expansion of the Guyana economy. And with the advent of the oil-and-gas industries, it is feared that the death toll will be higher, unless urgent measures are taken to establish a regime of protection.  Accordingly, it is widely expected that the State, mainly through the Ministry of Labour, the employers’ organisations and the Trade Unions, as stakeholders, would strengthen their collaboration in this regard.

The Ministry of Labour has strengthened its Occupational Safety and Health Department, and more inspectors have been appointed. The Minister of Labour has recently called for Occupational Safety and Health to be deemed a Profession, thus giving greater status and authority to the officers charged with enforcing the safety and health regulations.

Adequate training in ensuring safety and health in the various industries would be intensified, resulting in employers having proper equipment and properly maintaining them.  For example, in the construction industry, proper scaffolding should provide areas for resting without the threat of falling, and in the mining industry, measures must be taken to prevent the “cave-ins” that could bury miners. Other personal safety equipment would include safety boots, safety helmets, appropriate gloves, cell phone safety vests for appropriate industries, masks and respirators for those working in chemical industries or with cement and luminous vests for those involved in the aeronautics industry. With such training of inspectors and workers being trained appropriately and the acquisition of appropriate equipment by companies, death and injury rates should almost disappear.

Finally, workplaces, as some actually do at present, should institute regular medical check-ups of their workers, especially those engaged in dangerous activities such as dealing with chemicals or cement packing.
Homeowners tend to develop their own menus of safety precautions, but these should include having a medicine kit, a list of important telephone numbers, including those of the police and doctor and nearest neighbour, ensuring that one telephone in the home is always functional and that burglar alarm and security cameras are in working order if the homeowner has such. Keep dogs penned so that would-be criminals may not feed them any poisonous food.