GPL neglected to inform Public Service Ministry of linesman’s death – Joseph

General Secretary of the National Association for Agriculture Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE) Kenneth Joseph said the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) neglected to inform the Ministry of Public Service of the injury, and subsequent death, of one of its contracted linesmen in Berbice.

Seon Scott, 19, a GPL linesman who sustained severe electrical burns after being struck by a live wire on the job, succumbed on Thursday in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).

Kenneth Joseph
Kenneth Joseph

His death came a week after the accident, which occurred at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice, where he was on duty. Reports said Scott was about to “belt up” onto a utility post when the live wire hit him, sending him crashing to the ground.

Joseph said that the issue surfaced yesterday morning during a meeting with officials from NAACIE, GPL and Public Service Minister Dr Nanda Gopaul. He said that though the young man had been injured about a week ago, the incident was never reported to the ministry. Furthermore, GPL failed to inform the ministry of the fact that the young man had succumbed to his injuries.

Joseph lamented GPL’s negligence concerning the matter.

He explained that GPL usually sub-contracts many of its operations to persons whose workforce consists of inadequately-qualified personnel. Joseph said that occupations, such as that held by Scott, require that the individual be trained and be somewhat proficient in carrying out his responsibility. He said that in most cases, the persons used by sub-contractors lack the necessary formal training to carry out such work, even though they may have some amount of experience in the field.

It is for this reason, said Joseph, that NAACIE advised GPL against laying off hundreds of trained linesmen in 2009. He said the union and the company have since gone back and forth about ensuring training for employees. He said, however, that the ad-hoc arrangement which exists between GPL and its sub-contractors inhibits any such considerations for the health and safety of workers.

Seon Scott
Seon Scott

Joseph also said that since Scott was not a direct employee of GPL, the company was not necessarily obligated to provide any form of compensation to his family.

Also, since many employees of sub-contractors are not represented by NAACIE or any of the other unions, they are left to deal with such issues on their own. He said that in many cases, National Insurance Scheme (NIS) benefits are not paid for these persons, which means that they would be unable to make any claims to the scheme in case of any incidents.

“Unless they decide to unionise, there isn’t really much we can do,” said Joseph.