Dear Editor,
The Minister of Education in a Facebook post recently shared her pride for the services being provided to a school. She stated, “This is Godfrey Munroe from our MISU Dept with umbrella in one hand and phone to ear in the other on a roof in pounding rain to install internet at Waramuri Village at the primary school. This is what service looks like for us!”
Unfortunately, the Minister overlooked the safety of Munroe, while boasting of the service being provided. There have been many working at heights deaths and injuries to workers in the construction industry and other sectors. The Ministry of Labour should have already put in place the requirements for working from heights across the country’s sectors to ensure that proper safety equipment is always used.
Given the recent concerns for safety at the schools, including those raised as a result of the Mahdia Fire, CRG expected the ministers and their associated ministries to be more sensitive and aware of the importance of safety. What is more concerning is that the minister seems to be oblivious to the safety risk and how serious an injury Munroe could have experienced. Both hands filled while on a zinc sheet roof in the pouring rain with no fall protection!
It was suggested to the Minister to remove her Facebook post because it was sending the wrong message. Instead of doing so, the Minister proceeded to post yet another example of workers working at heights without fall protection. She stated, “What love looks like! Hosororo Secondary going up”, and the pictures showed 3 workers on the roof without fall protection. In many developed nations, fall protection is required when working at a height over 6 feet in the construction industry. The Ministry of Public Works should also be pushing for such standards. The government must do a better job via occupational health and safety standards to protect our workers by making such safe working standards compulsory.
The inexperience of the current team of Ministers is becoming more evident as these embarrassing and unsafe events become public. The Ministry of Labour must step in and prevent further near misses from occurring by explicitly implementing clear working at heights requirements. Such work should require a permit that ensures the person carrying out the work has been trained on how to use, and will use the required safety equipment for the job. Safety must be the first priority!
Sincerely,
Jamil Changlee
Chairman
The Cooperative Republicans of
Guyana
