The Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Department has conducted thorough investigations of workplace deaths that were reported between 2020 and 2022, according to the department’s head Gweneth King, who has said two employers are before the courts as a result.
Speaking to this newspaper on Monday, King also said employees are not reporting minor accidents and that it is mostly the fatal accidents that become publicised. But she said that the latter could be prevented if the minor accidents are reported and then guidance is given to avoid recurrences. In addition, it is their duty to provide recommendations as is seen fit to prevent future accidents. She further stressed that both the employees and employers have to cooperate and adhere to safety measures for the particular work they do in order to prevent accidents.
While King mentioned that two employers who were taken before the courts, she did not release further details pending the outcome of the matters.
It was previously reported that some 27 accidents were recorded in 2021, 32 in 2020 and 18 in 2018/2019.
Region One recorded four fatalities in 2021, regions Two, Five, Six and Ten recorded one each, Region Three recorded two, Region Four recorded six, Region Seven recorded eight, Region Eight recorded three. Region Nine had no fatalities that were recorded.
Of the total number of fatalities, 12 were from the mining sector, 5 were from construction, 4 were from agriculture, while fishing and transportation, manufacturing, aviation, service, and maritime recorded one each.
King said that while many persons come to the department seeking compensation for the loss of their relatives, this is not the main concern of the Labour Ministry’s investigations. She explained that her team works to prevent future minor and fatal accidents. The department’s duties are to conduct inspections and surveys of workplaces; provide guidance; and advise on ways in which working conditions and environment could be improved and the maintenance of good workplace safety and health practice. Circumstances of work accidents and complaints are also investigated by OHS officers.
King noted that many persons take chances and the risks are detrimental. On many occasions, she said, persons don’t realise that hazards are always there but their actions either increase or decrease the risk.
Among the deaths that were investigated was that of Sheldon Dainty, 37, a driver of La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, who was crushed by a truck he was driving after he fell out of the vehicle when it toppled down a hill at 26 Miles Port Kaituma, in Region One on May 22, 2021. According to a Guyana Police Force statement, Dainty was driving a truck, with two other occupants in the vehicle, Bryan Singh, 40, of Parika, East Bank Essequibo, and Kurt Hernandez, 34, of 1 Mile Port Kaituma, when the accident occurred. Attempting to ascend a hill Dainty encountered mechanical problems, which caused the truck to start rolling down the hill at a fast rate of speed. This resulted in the truck crashing into a barricade and then turning turtle. Dainty and Singh fell out of the vehicle and the truck reportedly rolled over Dainty’s body as it descended. Dainty sustained multiple injuries about his body, including to the head, as did Singh, the police said. The two men — Dainty in an unconscious condition and Singh in a semi-unconscious condition — were picked up by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Port Kaituma District Hospital, where Dainty was pronounced dead.
King said that the investigation concluded that the road conditions were among the hazards that caused the fatal accident. It was recommended that roads be inspected and assessed before being used and that alternative routes also be scouted.
Illegal site
On August 20, 2021, Xanier Fraser, a 36-year-old attached to Troy’s Security Department, died while at work in Region Seven. Management of the company confirmed that Fraser was fatally injured while carrying out a monitoring exercise on an illegal mining site in the Potaro land holding area. Following an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Ministry to determine the cause/ causes of the accident, it was found that the mining site was illegal.
Another death that was investigated was that of Gordon Mansfield. Mansfield, a retired court superintendent and then employee of Aurora Gold Mines Inc (AGM), died after being involved in an accident at Kilometer 33, Buck Hall, Region One. This newspaper reported that the accident occurred along Buck Hall road and involved one of AGM’s pickups which was transporting personnel from the Aurora Gold Mines site to its Buck Hall, facility located along the Essequibo River. Four persons, including the driver, were being transported when the vehicle suffered a blowout. The Ministry later announced that it was investigating the accident. According to the OSH officers’ findings, the contributing factors to the accident were that the surface of the road affected the tires. There was a pothole on the road and this resulted in the vehicle toppling.
An inconclusive investigation by the ministry concerned 50-year-old Dexter Carmichael of Plantation Hope, West Coast Berbice, who was found floating in the Puruni River, Region Seven. It was reported that the man’s body was found floating hours after he had last been seen in a drunken state. The police had stated that on September 1, 2021, between 18:30 hrs and 20:00 hrs, at Region Seven, the man who was employed by a mining operation, had been imbibing. It was further stated that the man went onto a boat laden with fuel in an old mining pit at about 18:30 hrs. Then at about 20:00hrs, the boat was discovered, sunken in the pit, while the man’s body was seen afloat. Detectives who examined the body observed what appeared to be gasoline burns about the man’s shoulder. King said that the death was strange because of the findings which have left many unanswered questions.
Another fatality recorded in September, 2021, that has been investigated was the death of Odell Richards, 40, of Lot 52 Unity-Lancaster, who was struck in the head by a wire at an H. Nauth and Sons site at Unity, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara. He was injured on September 10, 2021. Richards was reportedly seen pulling a wire, which later burst and struck him in his head. As a result Richards fell to the ground in an unconscious state. He was then taken to the Mahaicony Cottage Hospital by a cousin, who is also a construction worker at the said location, along with two other workers. Blunt trauma to the head and high blood pressure were reported as his cause of death.
King said that it was found that the man was not wearing protective gear. Speaking on this, she emphasised that protective gear is necessary for work in the areas that they investigate.
On November 5, 2021, Sudesh Charran, a 22-year-old labourer of Lot 3964 Westminster, West Bank Demerara, was walking under the metal lift to go into the F & R Supermarket, when it fell from the upper flat and pinned him. As a result, the police said, workers rushed to his assistance and used a piece of wood and a jack to raise the lift. They then managed to pull the motionless Charran from under it. A large wound was seen at the top of his head. His body was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival by a doctor on duty. The OHS Department investigated while the supermarket and the family reached a settlement. It was reported that the supermarket had signs which drew attention to the dangers of walking where the lift was but they were not bright and bold. The supermarket has since remedied this.
Meanwhile, the family of Tularam Harrylall, 18, a labourer of Lot 855 Bath, West Coast Berbice (WCB), was compensated with $7 million after a motor lorry reversed into him. The accident occurred just before midday on December 20, 2021, at the Hakh Rice Mill compound located in Golden Grove, West Coast Berbice. It was reported that a man who was not licensed to operate the lorry was operating it. The man told investigators that although he was employed as a driver he does not have a licence but would reverse the lorries while awaiting the load in the boiler area. On the day in question, the man was reversing when he was told to stop, which he did and upon exiting the lorry and proceeding to the back of the lorry, he saw the deceased lying on the ground. Harrylall was rushed to the Fort Wellington Public Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
OHS officers told this newspaper that it was important for employees to know their rights so that they can express concerns when they see fit and therefore prevent accidents from occurring. Working in conditions that are unsafe, they said, would not happen if employees not only demand that the employers provide safety gear and workable conditions but also training. They further reminded that employers have to be aware that there are laws which demand that they provide suitable working conditions for their employees.
