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Demands For Workers' Health & Safety Benefits

A two-day Occupational Health and Safety Workshop has emphasised a call for a system whereby workers who sustain injuries on the job can receive certain compensatory benefits.

Participants at the workshop

The workshop, arranged by the Social Security Office in Anguilla, was held from Tuesday to Thursday this week at the House of Chandeliers and conducted by Horace Brennan, a Health and Safety Consultant based in Canada. It was designed for managers, supervisors and other personnel in the public and private sectors responsible for maintaining a healthy and safe-working environment.

The Minister of Social Development, Evans Rogers, who declared open the workshop, said there was a need for improvements in the recording and reporting systems for occupational accidents and diseases.

Mr. Rogers continued: “The challenge is to develop training programmes for inspectors, health service officials, employers and workers that promote the establishment of more accurate accident registers; the design of reporting systems that avoid or minimize the loss of significant data; high-quality processing and timely communication of data obtained; the availability of up-to-date statistics and the development of strategies to control and reduce accidents.”

L-R: E. Bradley, Rev. Weeks, Hon. E. Rogers, Mr. Brennan, Timothy Hodge and Rodney Rey

Labour Commissioner, Evalie Bradley, who chaired the opening ceremony, admitted that occupational health and safety in many establishments in Anguilla, including the Government’s service, had been given a very low order of priority at the workplace.

She quoted the International Labour Organisation as reporting that two million workers die each year in workplace accidents and diseases around the world. She noted that although Anguilla was excluded from those statistics, the reality was that, even on a very reduced scale, there were workplace accidents and illnesses which were not reported. Mrs. Bradley felt the workshop was timely and there was a need to place emphasis on prevention and control with a view to protecting employees at the workplace.

Speaking from a Social Security standpoint, Timothy Hodge said the costs of injuries on the job to workers included pain and suffering, loss of income, possible loss of ability to work, health-care expenses and human suffering caused to a worker’s family which could not be compensated with money. He observed that there were also costs to employers including payment for work not performed, medical and compensation payments, increased training expenses and administrative costs; and a negative effect on the morale among other workers and possibly labour relations and poor public relations. He stated that on the national scale the costs of occupational illnesses could be as high as four percent of Anguilla’s Gross National Product.

Sections of participants at the workshop

Mr. Hodge called for a national effort to recognise the importance of occupational health and safety which is more than accident prevention as it related to all aspects of working conditions. He said there was a need for legislation to set the framework and environment within which safety programmes and benefits could exist and flourish.

Mr. Brennan, the workshop facilitator, commented that work-related accidents and injuries were indicative of a breakdown in the basic processes and procedures that threatened the efficiency and financial health of an organisation.

Rodney Rey, Permanent Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office and Ministry of Labour, agreed with Mrs. Bradley that Government had been slow in focusing its attention on the critically-important subject of occupational health and safety. He said attempts were now being made to address the subject.

The workshop opened with prayers by Methodist Supernumerary Minister, Reverend Cecil Weekes.

Sections of participants at the workshop

Topics for discussion in the workshop sessions included risks and hazards, management and internal responsibility, workplace policies, safety and health programmes, employer and employee responsibilities, safety and health committees, costs of accidents, case studies and accident investigations, recording and reporting.

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