The Guyana Environmental Health and Safety Foundation opened its two-day seminar on Workplace Occupational Safety and Health yesterday at Duke Lodge, Kingston.
Representatives of various business entities attended the event. They came from including, Gafoors, Guyana Power and Light (GPL), Giftland Office Max, Hand in Hand Insurance Company and the Guyana Revenue Authority ( GRA).
The purpose served to educate participants about the various aspects of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and the responsibilities that go with the Act.
It was initially pointed out that (OSHA) was enforced to replace the Factories Act of 1947 in Guyana. This was in answer to the necessity to have all work environments addressed as it regarded safety. These environments ranged from nursing to mining. As a result, in 1993 the Factories Act was revised and later taken to Parliament in 1997.It was passed into law in December of the same year.
It should be noted that Guyana was the first country in the Caribbean to have the legislation in place at the time. This meant that every workplace was covered by the law and they were required to have in their possession a copy of the Act.
The points highlighted at the workshop included the duties of the workers, which is primarily to ensure safety by complying with the regulations; the rights of the workers, to be aware of the hazards; duties of the employers, providing awareness; and duties of the supervisors, to ensure that personal protective equipment (PPE) is readily available.
The OSHA regulation also stressed the need to have Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) committees set up in the work place to monitor compliance with the law.
Coordinator of the event, Mr. Darwin Bourne, a member of the Guyana Environmental Health and Safety Foundation, indicated that one of the aims of the foundation is providing awareness to the society. He hinted that more events of this nature are in the pipeline.
The Guyana Environmental Health and Safety Foundation was formed two years ago. The second workshop will be held today.