-government commits to reducing occurrences through an alliance

OVER the past year, there have been 506 industrial accidents, 19 or 3.5 per cent of which were fatalities.

As part of its effort to address and reduce the number of accidents, government has started to train and educate all employers and employees about good occupational health and safety practices, said Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott during his presentation to the National Assembly last week.

“We have set ourselves a target of investigating all fatal accidents in a timely manner…we will also continue to conduct workshops and seminars with employers and employees…. In 2018, 40 training activities were conducted,” said the minister.
According to Minister Scott, most of the workplace fatalities occurred in the mining sector but, the ministry has since formed an alliance with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) and the Guyana Forestry Commission, to reduce the occurrences in the sector.

The stakeholders intend on conducting more inspections in the hinterland areas to ensure that safety is a priority.
“We will expand inspections across the country…we will also conduct safety audits because while not all of the accidents were fatal, time or a limb was lost,” said Scott, adding that the ministry and stakeholders will conduct projects with the guidance of the National Occupational Safety and Health Policy.

Guyana is the only country in CARICOM with a health and safety policy which could be mirrored across the community.
“We will continue to develop ways and means to deal with accidents,” said Scott, noting that they have invested in training to empower young people and to create more trainers.
Some $383 million was invested into the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) which has been training hundreds of young people for years.