Labour Ministry, GMSA host seminar on health, safety regulations
The Ministry of Labour and the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) teamed up to host a seminar on the conditions of work, occupational safety and health requirements, apprenticeship, and employment exchange services.
The seminar was hosted at the Regency Suites Hotel, Brickdam, Georgetown on Wednesday.
It is part of a collaborative effort to provide a better understanding of and compliance with the labour laws and the ministry’s services.
Minister, Joseph Hamilton underlined the importance of practicing health and safety as the country undergoes massive transformation.
The Board of Industrial Training, which falls under the purview of the ministry, remains committed to providing various technical and vocational training programmes to persons and placements of apprentices in various companies.
“Those two things, I believe, will be very useful for the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association and its members,” the minister pointed out.
Meanwhile, the President of GMSA, Rafeek Khan highlighted that health and safety remain critical in today’s workplace.
He noted that more emphasis should be placed on applicable safety gear at the relevant companies and industries.
Khan said management must lead by example when it comes to wearing safety gear in the factories, construction sites, and elsewhere, noting that, “it should be natural. We should want to treat health and safety as something very, very important. We should want to treat our labour laws and compliance as something very, very important regardless of which sector may be leading the charge.”
Additionally, Chief Labour Officer, Dhaneshwar Deonarine said the seminar forms part of the ministry’s continuous efforts to build fruitful partnerships with the business community and the GMSA.
This aligns with Sustainable Development Goal number 17 which speaks to ‘partnerships for the goals.’
He added that the ministry sees this partnership as a way to encourage, promote, and ensure compliance with labour laws related not only to the conditions of work, but also to occupational, safety and health across the country.
Similar seminars were held in 2021 and 2022, where over 8,500 employees were reached.
Some of the participants at the seminar included representatives/companies from the oil and gas industry, forestry, agriculture, agro-processing, poultry, pharmaceutical, arts and craft, education, machinery, and construction sectors.