Manganese workers should have had protective gear

The site where the miners were working.

The Guyana Manganese Inc (GMI) miners who recently fell ill after working in tunnels at Matthews Ridge, in Region One, should have had protective gear, Occupational Health and Safety Department consultant at the Ministry of Social Protection Gwyneth King said yesterday.

King told a press conference hosted by the Public Health Ministry that a preliminary investigation found that the workers were not equipped with protective gear. It was also noted that the patients who were critical spent the most time in the tunnels and an assessment revealed that three patients spent an accumulated 84 hours without any protective gear

“If you have to do a job like that, you need to wear the respective protective gear,” King said, while explaining that the company claimed that the protective gear was held up at customs awaiting clearance.

She stated that they have to go through their reports and check the labour laws to determine whether the company would be sanctioned for the violation.