Employers are reluctant to put adequate resources into health and safety; “solutions” may be the cheapest not the best, when budgets are being cut health and safety can become just another area where ” savings” can be made.

Cornelius, of Grove, East Bank Demerara, had his legs severed at the knees on January 18 when his limbs got entangled in a winch on the “World Friend 307”,a trawler that is owned by Noble House Seafoods. Unsafe machines are designed by people who do not have to work using them; they are there to make profits, not necessarily a safe work place, work processes are devised with speed and “efficiency” often more important than reducing the level of risk involved.

It should be of interest to note, also, that since the change of government in Guyana in 1992, the Ministry of Labour has set up a Tripartite Committee on Industrial Relations of which there are a number of standing committees, inclusive of one on Occupational Safety and Health. This committee should meet once every month at which the work of the Standing Committees are discussed together with matters concerning either of the three partners in industrial relations. It is the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s job to educate the workers and they must be made aware of the hazards inherent in their jobs and the dangers to which they are exposed.

They must also be convinced that they are adequately protected against the hazards and dangers by the safety measures applied. The government of Guyana is committed to the improvement of the working conditions and environment for its people. The right to work is enshrined in Article 22 (1),Chapter 11 of the Constitution of Guyana and coupled with the right is the improvement of working conditions. To this end, government, trade unions, employers and other socio-economic organisations are committed to working together to improve conditions at work.

The regulatory authority which has responsibility for Occupational Safety and Health in Guyana is the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Labour or the regulatory authority. This Ministry is responsible for occupational injuries, deaths and illnesses to any worker. The Ministry of Labour should see that Mr. Russell Cornelius is properly compensated like many other workers who are off the job because of accidents.
MOHAMED KHAN