BOSAI employees benefit from health, safety training

Sixteen employees of the BOSAI Minerals Group, who are serving on the Joint Workplace and Health Committee in Linden, Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice), were on Friday recognised for successfully completing a three-day Joint Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and National Insurance Scheme (NIS) training programme.
The aim of the programme was to train and prepare members of the Committee on how to carry out their mandate in the workplace, as required by Chapter 99:06 of the OSH Act.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton praised the company for recognising the need to have a safe and healthy environment for their employees, particularly those in the professional sector.
This included implementing several recommendations issued by the Ministry in the aftermath of the ‘Formal Investigation’ report on the death of Neptrid Hercules, a former BOSAI employee.

Hercules went missing in March, along with the CAT D9T bulldozer he was operating at the time. His body was found several days later, after an extensive search. Reportedly, this incident was the result of a failure experienced by the overburden dump in the East Montgomery Mine where he was working, and that had led to him being covered by the overburden material.
A ten-member investigative team was appointed to look into the incident, taking note of the culture of the organization; what controls and systems employees are required to check; and the strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement in the workplace. Additionally, Minister Hamilton had voiced his hopes to facilitate an apprenticeship that would expose final-year university students to the necessary skills and knowledge in their field of competence.
Alongside the Minister were OSH Consultant Gwyneth King, BOSAI Vice General Manager Mike Zhou, and Linden NIS Manager Keith Allicock. OSH Officers Neza King and Darwin Bourne were also present, as were OSH Officers for Regions One (Barima-Waini), Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), Chavez Daniels, Naipaul Persaud, Babita Singh, Nazmoon Pritipaul and Karen Singh respectively.
In addition to the graduation ceremony, the Minister visited the organisation’s mining site and Kiln #15 and Maz project, to supervise its operation alongside work attachment students from the Ministry’s OSH Department from the University of Guyana, to offer them personal experience in the field.