HEALTH, Safety and Environmental Manager at the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA), Sunil Gopaul, has underscored the urgent need to strengthen occupational safety and health standards across Guyana’s construction sector, warning that safety culture, training and worker awareness remain the industry’s greatest weaknesses.
Delivering a presentation titled “Building a Safe Guyana: Strengthening Occupational Safety and Health Performance in Infrastructure Construction” during the second day of the International Building Expo, Gopaul outlined the measures needed to improve safety performance as Guyana continues its rapid housing and infrastructural expansion.
He explained that the CH&PA oversees an extensive portfolio of housing and infrastructure projects, making occupational safety and health a critical component of every development undertaken by the agency.
According to Gopaul, one of the most important factors in achieving high safety standards is the commitment of senior leadership.
Gopaul expressed that when top management understands the importance of occupational safety and health, it can go a long way in improving overall performance.
According to the manager, one of the early initiatives undertaken by the CH&PA was the development of an Environmental and Social Management System under an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) programme.
As a result, he said, there has been a cultural shift in Guyana, with contractors moving from paying little attention to occupational safety and health to now setting aside funds to ensure workers have the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE).
He defined occupational safety and health as a multidisciplinary field that focuses on preventing work-related illnesses, deaths and injuries. It also aims to safeguard the mental, physical and social well-being of persons who work in these environments.
“Before we can actually talk about occupational safety and health performance, we really need to understand, from a global perspective as well as a national perspective, what this sector really, really needs,” Gopaul said.
He added: “Let’s look at the construction industry from a global perspective. Economically, it is among the most significant industries in terms of its contribution to GDP in most countries, accounting for about 13 to 15 per cent. From a social perspective, it is the largest industrial employer in many of those countries, accounting for around seven per cent of total employment worldwide.”
Gopaul said the construction sector is responsible for 23 per cent of air pollution, 50 per cent of climate change impacts, 40 per cent of drinking water pollution and 50 per cent of landfill waste.
He said the CH&PA conducted a study to re-evaluate infrastructural projects under the agency.
The findings from the study were used to identify strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement in order to enhance the agency’s performance within the construction sector.
“We looked at four different things: the procedures, the regulations, the policies and the accident prevention methods. We looked at the inadequacy of the health and safety measures on these construction sites. We examined the roles and responsibilities of both employers and employees, and we looked at recommendations to improve performance,” he said.
Gopaul said the key message from the study is that the greatest deficiencies are related to safety culture, training and worker awareness.
He noted that there are many recommendations that need to be taken into consideration, including the need for proper planning, risk management and regulatory compliance.
“Ensuring that environmental and social assessment studies are conducted and occupational safety and health (OSH) plans are implemented, among others. We also need to ensure there is continuous monitoring and improvement. You need to monitor trends in occupational accidents and incidents. You need to conduct regular OSH audits to determine whether your system is performing as it should. You need to establish systems for tracking and closing corrective actions and improve PPE and emergency equipment. This will result in reduced workplace accidents, improved compliance and safer project execution,” Gopaul remarked.
