At a time when large construction projects have become commonplace in coastal Guyana, the Labour Department of the Ministry of Social Protection is even more determined to rigidly enforce laws governing workplace safety, Minister within the Ministry Simona Broomes told Stabroek Business on Tuesday.
And she disclosed that a visit to the Robb and Camp streets construction site where a giant crane had collapsed on Saturday had revealed at least 12 breaches of labour laws relating to the observance of workplace safety and health procedures.
Stabroek Business has seen a copy of a letter to the owner of the construction site, Rizwan Khan from the Chief Labour Occupational Safety and Health Officer listing the infractions, including the absence of a trained first-aider and a first kit at the work site. There was also no accident register when the ministry made its site inspection visit on Monday. Other infractions listed in the letter include the non-deduction of National Insurance and income tax from workers’ wages and salaries and there was no signed list of employees.
The Social Protection Ministry has given the site owner two weeks to correct the listed infractions pointing out that “a follow-up inspection will be conducted within two weeks to ensure compliance.”
Asked about penalties in cases of non-compliance, Broomes said, “the law makes provision for penalties” and as far as she was aware “no construction site or owner was exempt from the law.” The minister said it was her understanding that in the face of evidence to the contrary, the site owner had taken the position that no accident had ever occurred.
This newspaper understands that Khan is also the owner of the building situated immediately north of the present construction site where reports of a site accident in 2014, which had been verified had been denied.
Meanwhile, Broomes said her ministry was requiring that the site owner provide “verifiable proof” that the crane that collapsed was in condition to be working on the site. “We have said to the site owner in a letter which he ought to have received by now that he would have to meet the cost of the proper inspection of the piece of equipment that will be done by someone provided by the ministry.”
Broomes had said in previous interviews with this newspaper that her ministry is determined to “go after” work sites where it appeared the owners were oblivious to the importance of providing safe working conditions “and otherwise complying with laws that cover workers in the event of accidents.” She said she failed to see how a government that said it had the workers’ interests at heart could allow those infractions without initiating any kind of remedial intervention. Broomes said a choice had to be made regarding “whether we will continue to leave workers vulnerable and exposed” or whether we would “take the fight to those work sites that insist on not abiding by the rules.”
Meantime, Broomes said it had come to her attention that “it might be the case” that some business houses where she had intervened to ensure that entitlements denied to their workers were paid were responding by reducing the pay levels of those workers. “We would want delinquent employers to know that we do not approve of that kind of approach to treating with their employees,” Broomes said.
