Labour Minister issues strict warning to companies about occupational health and safety.

Georgetown: A two day workshop ends today, as participants from public and private companies in the country summarise the challenges and updated legislation and protocols of occupational health and safety. Organised by the Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI) in collaboration with the International Labour Organization, the workshop supports Governments, employers and workers in their effort to improve OSH at the enterprise and national levels. In highlighting the importance of OSH she said that over 1.3 million people die from workplace accidents annually while 160 million contract occupational diseases.

 Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir in his address to participants at the Pegasus hotel this afternoon, said that Guyana continues to invest in the training of its Labour Occupational Safety and Health (OS&H) officers to ensure that they are well equipped to carry out their functions. In this regard, he said that too often the issue of occupation health is taken for granted in the workplace. While commending some of the companies for adhering and being in sync with national Labour Occupational Safety and Health (LOSH) protocols noted that more needs to be done, since the creation of safe environments for employees is an ongoing process,Minister Nadir said. Warning managers, he said that the Ministry is serious about OS&H and will leave no stone unturned in bringing justice to employees who have had their rights denied. “If someone dies on the workplace/site due to the lack of safety protocols, the management is liable under the workers’ compensation…and you have to compensate the victim’s family.