The Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Health and Safety Unit has sanctioned local firm Ramotar and Sons Contracting after the company recorded at least one death and a serious work-related accident between 2018 and 2019.
At a press conference on Friday, head of the Occupational Health and Safety Unit at the ministry, Gwyneth King, said that after investigations were completed, the Unit found the contractor to be in violation of Occupational Health and Safety guidelines.
In a move to resolve this and prevent work-related accidents from recurring, she said that the company was sanctioned and mandated to implement safer working conditions for employees. She did not disclose what the measures put in place were.
Two of the contractor’s employees were electrocuted on projects that the company was contracted for on the East Coast of Demerara and the Essequibo Coast in 2018 and 2019.
In 2019, Andrea Fullerton, 21, of 155 Patrick Dam, Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, Berbice, died after coming into contact with a live wire. At the time he was working with the contracting firm on a maintenance project for the Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).
Police were told that Fullerton was clearing the utility pole of wires when he was electrocuted as an unprotected part of his right arm came into contact with the live wire. At the time he was working on an utilty pole at Section B, Clonbrook, East Coast Demerara.
And in 2018, another employee, Asif Azeez, was shocked by a live wire while installing street lights at Dryshore, Essequibo Coast. Another man, Orwayne Cozier, 24, of Lot 30 Dowding Street, Kitty, Georgetown, died after being shocked in the same incident.
Cozier, who was employed with the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, was speaking with Azeez, who was employed with Ramotar and Sons Contracting firm — which was tasked with running power lines overhead — when the mishap occurred.
Vibert Balgobin, one of the contracting firm’s employees, was on a utility pole trying to get wire from one post to another. As he was doing so, Cozier and Azeez were on the ground assisting by handling the spool rack that was feeding the wire to Balgobin.
It was during this process, police said, that the wire made contact with a live GPL cable, jammed a transformer and shocked both Cozier and Azeez. Both men were sent flying and landed some distance away.
