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Occupational health and safety in the workplace is taking center stage at a two day workshop organized by the Ministry of Housing and Lands for public servants which opened at the ministry’s conference room on Monday 18th, March, 2019.

The workshop is being held at the conference room of the ministry and will primarily look at the occupational and health safety act of 2017. Participants are drawn from the Ministry of Housing, Ministry of Transport and Works and the Housing and Land Development Corporation (HLDC).

The Honourable Minister of Housing, Montgomery Daniel, in his brief remarks at the opening told participants that it was important that training takes place at every level, be it in the public service or within industrial establishments. He said the need for training could not be over emphasized as an assurance that there is knowledge and understanding of work. “Health and safety is quite an important aspect of our own task,” he said.

Stressing the point that accidents do happen on the job which may not be the fault of the manager; he said as managers, it is important that they ensure that the basic requirements and safety are met at all times at the workplace. "We cannot and we must not be seen as the ones slipping up. We must ensure that there are basic things in place on the work site or environment to ensure that the work environment is safe.”

Minister Daniel said that the Occupational and Safety Act is very important. “It is important to all of us, it is important for the good of the workplace and what we do will have bearing on our attitude and responsibilities at the work place,” he said.

The workshop’s facilitators are: Kesron Walters and Shernelle Hadaway.

 

SOURCE: API