-Ministry to launch ‘aggressive’ campaign
With workplace deaths for the first half of the year already at 11, the Ministry of Labour is to take what it called “a proactive approach” to curb this trend, the Government Information Agency (GINA) said in a press release last Friday.
According to GINA, Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir has asked the Chief Occupational Health and Safety Officer to design a more aggressive campaign to enforce the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) laws in Guyana.
This decision was taken after statistics showed that there was an ever growing increase in the death rate which in 2008 was 10. Already for the first half of 2009 there was an increase with 11 deaths from job-related accidents.
Nadir noted that the OHS committee is committed to ensuring standards and safety practices are strictly adhered to.
Employers are liable for the life earnings of those persons who died and there is specific outlawing of agreements between uneven partners, meaning that agreements made between employers and families of the deceased will not be binding.
And to ensure that businesses are aware of what is expected of them, the ministry will be starting another media campaign since it has been noted that mass media campaigning is the most effective way of getting the message over, the release stated.
Where breaches are found citations will be issued immediately and those who refuse to comply will be prosecuted. Nadir observed that no amount of monetary compensation can reimburse for the loss of limb or life and therefore any breach of the law would be treated seriously.
