During the period July 11-16, 2021, Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Week will be observed in Barbados under the theme, “A Safe Workplace: Now More Than Ever”. In April this year the International Labour Organization (ILO) celebrated World Day for Safety and Health at Work, under the theme, “Anticipate, Prepare and Respond to Crises: Invest now in resilient Occupational Safety and Health Systems”.
In both instances, the themes chosen were heavily influenced by the circumstances impacting countries and businesses across the globe due to the Covid-19 Pandemic and other localised events. Notably in Barbados, we have also been affected by the potential ill-health effects and safety hazards created from the excessive ash fall in April this year. The desired objective from both our own Labour Department and the ILO, is for a renewed focus at the level of individual businesses as well as policy, on strategies to strengthen occupational safety and health (OSH) systems. These strategies should lead to reduced workplace hazards and risky practices. Ultimately, creating safer workplaces, better trained, competent and more safety conscious work teams, resulting in more resilient companies better equipped to handle challenging events in the future.
As vaccines becomes more available and accessible, we continue to have robust discussions around COVID-19 and the responsibility of the Employer and the Employee regarding a safe place of work. In the case of the ash fall, we were faced with the dual risks. Not only adequately protecting workers who due to the nature of their jobs were exposed to the fine respirable dust particles, potentially damaging their respiratory system, but also provision of safe systems of work to avoid falls from height for those working during the clean-up efforts. Unfortunately, based on reports in the local news media, the latter resulted in one reported fatality and serious injury to another. Trips and falls on uneven surfaces, slipping on wet floors, coming into contact or being struck by objects, inhalation of dangerous fumes, receiving an electric shock, or getting burnt or killed in a fire, are all common examples of the types of accidents that can happen to individuals at work.
For business owners and operators, OSH can seem like a very complicated issue, which if done properly, requires a lot of time. So… what is safety and health really all about, and why is it important to you and your business? Simply put, safety and health is about preventing individuals from being harmed at work, by taking the appropriate and adequate precautions to provide a satisfactory working environment.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the UK reported 111 workers killed in 2019/20. In Barbados however, annual statistics on workplace injuries and fatalities are not yet published. As we continue to enhance our data collection systems, this hopefully will become a reality in the not-too-distant future. Despite unavailability of workplace accident statistics, we do know that serious workplace injuries and fatalities have occurred over the years. As a nation, we must be more demonstrative in our commitment to operate safely to ensure that employees can return home safely to their loved ones at the end of a work shift.
Source: Health and Safety Executive (UK)
Sensible and responsible risk management therefore, is rooted in the following:
1. Ensuring that employees and members of the public are protected from harm.
2. Balancing benefits and risks – Focus on reducing those risks which arise often and those with serious/severe consequences.
3. Enabling innovation and learning, not stifling them.
4. Managing risks responsibly – with a clear understanding that failure to do so, could lead to loss of life, life-changing injuries, prosecution under the local Safety and Health at Work Act (SHaW) and civil suits.
5. Ensuring that individuals understand that along with a right to be protected, they also must exercise responsibility and take ownership for their actions.
As time and development of systems and processes lead to change and improvements, the same is true for safety and health in the workplace. We must seek to stay up to date with advancements that will allow us to work safer. The Honourable Minister of Labour has recently announced that the long-awaited Regulations to the SHaW Act, may be available in August or sometime later this year. These Regulations will certainly provide further guidance to Employers regarding the acceptable workplace standards required for various activities and the concomitant enforcement actions for breaches of these standards.
No one chooses to get hurt at work and many persons are of the view that accidents at work are unusual or exceptional occurrences that never happen in their businesses. The reality is that too many incidents actually do occur, that with interventions of a few basic measures, could be prevented from happening. Making your business operations safe does not have to be expensive, time consuming or complicated. In fact, doing so is likely to result in increased efficiency and cost savings, reductions in employee turnover, and lower rates of absenteeism and increased employee morale. Most importantly – It can save lives!