SEVEN officers from the Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department fortified their expertise in fall protection through a comprehensive training session conducted on Wednesday, June 26. The one-day course, organised by HHSL Safety Systems (Guyana) Inc., was designed to enhance the officers’ ability to mitigate fall-related risks effectively.

Hosted at the company’s conference room in the GSEC Compound, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara (ECD), the training was facilitated by Course Instructor and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Mr. Preslee Paul. It covered a wide array of topics crucial to ensuring workplace safety, including the Basics of Fall Protection, the Physics of a Fall, Fall Restraint and Positioning, Fall Arrest, Equipment Inspection, and Rescue procedures.

Ms. Neza King, one of the trained OSH Officers, emphasised the significance of the training in understanding the operational hazards associated with fall protection equipment. “It made us better able to identify the hazards and issues associated with the use of fall protection and make sure we are better equipped to understand the construction sector,” she added.

Assistant Chief OSH Officer, Ms. Maxean Bess; Senior OSH Officer, Mr. Darwin Bourne; OSH Officers Mr. Ray Hosannah and Ms. Johana Vaughn, and Regional OSH Officers, Ms. Babita Singh and Ms. Nazmoon Jafarally, were among those who benefitted from the training.

The course equipped participants with practical skills such as calculating fall clearances and arresting forces, distinguishing among fall restraint, work positioning, and fall arrest techniques, properly donning and adjusting harnesses, conducting equipment inspections, identifying symptoms of suspension trauma, and responding effectively to emergencies.

Certification was awarded to all participants upon successful completion of the training, validating their enhanced proficiency in fall protection techniques for the next three years.

This initiative underscores the Ministry’s commitment to fostering a safer working environment across various sectors, further solidifying their ongoing efforts to equip OSH officers with the necessary skills and knowledge to uphold stringent safety standards.