The death of 20-year-old forklift operator Colin Nurse Joseph of Alya Construction Company on February 20th, 2024 at his workplace, situated at Omai Port, Wismar, Upper Demerara River is still under investigation.
This is according to Regional Commander Superintendent Guy Nurse who was contacted on Saturday for an update. He said that both the police and the Ministry of Labour’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department were still investigating the matter.
Joseph, of Lot 229 Wisroc Housing Scheme, died around 3:25 pm on February 20, the Ministry of Labour had said in a statement, which also announced that the OSH Department had started an investigation into the incident.
Preliminary reports had revealed that Joseph and a co-worker were operating a forklift loading the line and moving wood spoils when the machine became stuck in the sand. Joseph reportedly sought assistance from truck drivers and whilst doing so, the machine began to topple. He jumped out of the forklift and was hit in the neck and back by the machine.
The statement said that Joseph received medical assistance from the company’s doctor and died while being taken to the Linden Hospital Complex.
Following the report of the accident, Senior OSH Officer Darwin Bourne, and OSH Officer Ray Hosannah began the investigation by visiting the accident site and having meetings with representatives of the company, as well as officials of the hospital.
A number of deaths have occurred recently at worksites.
