Students, employees benefit from child labour, OSH training

The Labour Ministry is continuing its education and awareness campaign to eliminate child labour as well as to promote safer, healthier practices in workplaces, engaging a number of stakeholders this week in trainings and sensitisation workshops accordingly.
On Wednesday, several employees from Aurora Gold Mines / Zijin Mining Group began participating in a three-day Joint Workplace Safety and Health Committee Training Programme facilitated by the Ministry’s Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department.
This programme aimed to teach participants about National Insurance Scheme (NIS) benefits and the legal requirement to report all workplace accidents/diseases to NIS.
It also included sensitisation training on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), as well as fire safety training.

This training initiative was facilitated by OSH Officer Maxean Bess and sought to prepare members of the Joint Workplace Safety and Health Committee to carry out their mandate in the workplace, as required by Chapter 99:06 of the OSH Act.
Following the training’s completion, participants are expected to be equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to design and maintain safe work systems and practices, thereby minimising or eliminating workplace accidents.
It also allows participants to demonstrate an awareness of their roles and responsibilities as Joint Workplace Safety Committee representatives, and empowers them to be able to undertake workplace inspections and accident investigations, as well as implement techniques to control and/or remove hazards in their own workplaces.
The workplace and the participants would be certified for two years.
On Tuesday, several officers from the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) began a similar four-day Joint Workplace Safety and Health Committee Training Programme, also held by the Ministry’s OSH Department, though this one was led by OSH Officer Roydon Croal.

Child labour

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, students from Mahaicony Technical and Vocational Training Centre in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice) participated in a Child Labour Sensitisation Outreach campaign.
Conducted by Regional Labour Officers Hardat Malchan and Vedmattie Budhram, this exercise aimed to educate students on the issue of child labour and its negative impacts, in a continuous effort by the Ministry to eradicate child labour altogether.
Topics covered included what child labour is, the worst forms of child labour, the causes of child labour, the impact of child labour on education, and understanding child labour versus child work.
Similarly, from Monday, residents of Capoey and Tapakuma in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) were also led through a two-day sensitisation outreach campaign on child labour awareness by Regional Labour Officer, Ravi Persaud.