Labour Ministry to work on reducing workplace deaths

The Ministry of Labour is set to launch an aggressive sensitisation programme this year focused on labour relations and workers’ safety, in an effort to reduce work-related deaths in Guyana.

The sum of some $18.5 million was approved in the national budget for the programme.

Subject minister, Joseph Hamilton, M.P, said the first labour conference will be held on February 11 to engage companies operating within the oil and gas industry.   

“We will roll out a PR and communication strategy to deal with the issue of safe work because we have been aggressively dealing with issues of health and safety and just for reference, because of the work that was done by that department we have decreased workplace deaths in our first full year in office by 16 per cent,” he stated.

This positive change, according to the labour minister, is a result of the government’s new and improved approach to the issue workers’ rights and safety.

Over the past year, the ministry has been strengthening the capacity of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and the labour departments. Officers were also recruited and placed in the 10 administrative regions. Minister Hamilton explained that the officers within those departments were not only able to sensitise workers and employers within private and public sectors, but provide the relevant training. Those efforts, Minister Hamilton noted, must continue for the benefit of the working class.