A report on the death of a BOSAI worker has made seven recommendations that the Chinese company has to institute within set timelines.
Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton on Wednesday received the report of the formal investigation into the death of 59-year-old Neptrid Hercules, who was employed by BOSAI Minerals Group Guyana, Linden, Upper Demerara River, a Ministry of Labour release stated.
The release did not say if the board established whether there was negligence in the death of the worker.
The investigation into the accident begun on March 27 in compliance with Section 72 (1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The recommendations coming out of the Formal Investigation are as follows: 1) establish a sectoral coordinating group comprised of representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) and a representative of the workers union;
2) promulgation of the regulations made under the Occupational Safety and Health Act;
3) BOSAI Minerals Group Guyana to establish a Health and Safety Committee for the reclamation dump construction;
4) install and maintain geotechnical engineering, ground and surface water hydrology capacity supported by the appropriate field and laboratory equipment;
5) prepare and submit the report required by Part 111 (13) (q) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act;
6) submit a document to stack or dump any waste product resulting from mining operations to Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) for approval;
7) prepare and submit an Environmen-tal Management Plan and Contingency and Emergency Response Plan as required by the 2005 Mining Amendments;
8) commission and submit an updated Environmental Impact Assessment containing a description of best available technology and with a risk assessment and an Emergency Response Plan;
9) provide a report to the Ministry of Labour bearing the seal and the signature of a professional engineer addressing ground stability to ensure that a worker is not likely to be endangered and timelines for implementing the recommendations were given and BOSAI is required to adhere to them.
Hercules went missing in the early hours of the morning on March 11, along with the CAT D9T bulldozer which he was operating at the time. This was due to a failure experienced at the overburden dump in the East Montgomery Mine where he was working, which caused him and his equipment to be covered by the overburden material. The body of Hercules was found several days later after an extensive search.
Meanwhile, in his remarks during the presentation of the report, Hamilton expressed the hope that the findings would provide some measure of satisfaction to those concerned, notably Hercules’ family and friends,. He assured that in the future, workplace incident investigations will employ the same process as this one.
This involves setting up a joint technical committee to supplement the current one and working together with other government ministries and organisations to control the mining sector in an effort to stop future incidents.
Hercules was employed with the mining company for 42 years and was expected to retire in October this year.
