Two men employed with Russian-owned bauxite company, RUSAL, on Saturday suffered electrical shocks whilst carrying out maintenance works and General Secretary of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers’ Union (GB&GWU), Lincoln Lewis has voiced his concern over the company’s lackadaisical approach to the accident.
The injured workers have been identified as Glendon Timmerman, a pump operator of Linden, and Romeo Thomas, a truck operator of Kwakwani, Linden. At the time of the accident the men were carrying out maintenance in the Kurubuka mines. Timmerman and Harris sustained injuries as they were carrying out works on a pump. It appears that there were electricians also undertaking works and unbeknownst to the injured duo, the power supply to the pump was reconnected which resulted in them being shocked.
Lewis yesterday told Stabroek News that the union has not been formally informed of the accident by the company and he only learnt of the accident on Sunday from union representatives.
The GB&GWU General Secretary stated that they are currently trying to ascertain whether the Labour Department has commenced an inquiry into the matter.
“This sort of accident is a matter for concern where issues of premier safety for workers needs to be addressed. At this point, it is of much concern to us as a union, we are also concerned that the company have not seen it fit to inform us of this accident as yet,” Lewis lamented.
He said that the company failed to immediately take the workers to receive medical attention and kept them on site for a few hours.
“No ambulance came for them and they had to wait before they could have gotten medical attention. This matter was kept under the covers by management and it is serious allegations that warrants concern,” the union head told this newspaper.
Timmerman yesterday told Stabroek News that since the accident he has lost his sense of touch in the left hand. He explained that both he and Harris were shocked by 440 volts of electricity resulting in them being hospitalised.
Recalling the events that led to his injury, he said “I was fixing the pump and Mario was holding on to the two pontoons together so I could have fixed the pump. The electrician went and put on the current but didn’t tell we anything and we end up getting shock. When the current hit me, it pushed me out of the water where I was standing. It shock Mario entire body because he was holding both pontoons but I just feel it in my left hand,” Timmerman explained.
The injured worker further explained that his colleagues, foreman and executives from the company were present at the time of the accident but they failed to summon the company ambulance.
“They just told us to come up and had we sitting they didn’t take us to the hospital. I had to go on my own to the hospital and I got admitted for two days. Mario had to stay four days,” he complained, while pointing out that “two vehicles were present at the mines and could have transported them for medical treatment.”
Additionally, he lamented that since the accident on Saturday afternoon no one from the company has made contact with him to enquire about his wellbeing.
“It looks like they don’t care about we. We could have been two dead men and they wouldn’t ah care. Imagine we had to go and get we own help and they still have reached out to us,” Timmerman stressed.
He added that the company is arguing that neither he nor Harris made a request for medical assistance. “I don’t know what they wanted to hear we keep telling them that we feeling pain and I tell them I can’t feel my hand but they behave like if they didn’t care about we,” the injured man said.
Questioned as to if he was contacted by the Ministry of Social Protection’s Labour Department, he responded in the negative.
