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NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Steps being taken by government to protect blue collar workers on industrial sites, following several fatal accidents already this year.
The labor minister telling our Joshua Williams how policies, technology and more site visits are being used as strategies.
News of a death or serious injury on the job becoming more common in recent months, leading the Ministry of Labor to take a closer look at job safety.
According to police, just Wednesday, a 34-year-old man trapped under a crane on Fire Trail Road after it collapsed.
Then on Monday, another man injured in Seabreeze, falling from a bucket truck while repairing a streetlight some twenty feet high.
On February 12th, a 49-year-old man killed at Airport Industrial Park after his forklift collapsed.
And remember back on January 30th, when thousands of Bahamians witnessed the unfolding of a tragedy that saw a man operating an excavator trapped and killed under a mound of quarry, boulders, rocks and dirt.
His death gripping the nation, sparking widespread debate on worksite safety.
The issue now being pushed by Labour Minister Pia Glover-Rolle at the highest level.
Pia Glover – Minister, Labor and Public Service
“The Department of Labor houses that Occupational Safety and Health Unit. Just Tuesday in Cabinet, I put forward the ratification for C1 55 and 183 which speaks to our ILO Convention and our ability to embrace occupational safety, and health measures, to include include it in our legislation. Occupational safety and health is a major concern for the department of labor, we have inspectors that go on job sites. We have actually through the OAS gotten drone technology to learn how we can assist.”
And even before those four recent work site incidents on New Providence, putting the issue front and center for the minister, back in December on Grand Bahama, a man killed and another injured in two separate industrial incidents.
All these tragedies signaling what could be a troubling trend.
Pia Glover – Minister, Labor and Public Service
“That’s why it’s so important to ensure that safety protocols are consistently constantly being observed. It is the job of our inspector. Do not only ensure that these safety measures are in place, but like I said to ensure that there’s training to ensure that the organization or the company is observing the proper protocols and where it’s not happening there are fines that are in place”
Pia Glover – Minister, Labor and Public Service
“We know that a lot of training and retraining has to happen ensuring that in our has to employ workers that they have the proper training to be able to operate heavy equipment and then you know an accident is that it’s an accident something that was not expected, but but of course tragically happened. We continue as the Department of labor inspector to visit the job site ensure that the proper occupational safety and health managers are in place and where they aren’t offer assistance with training and re-skilling in that area”