Occupational Safety and Health A Caricom Perspective CERSSO San Salvador, El Salvador April 29, 2004

Occupational Safety and Health History National Perspectives  Antigua and Barbuda and the OECS  Dominica  Grenada  Trinidad and Tobago  Suriname Caricom Model Differences in National Perspectives Constraints

History Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, the other OECS Countries and Trinidad and Tobago - British Model (emphasis on Factories) Suriname - Dutch Model (emphasis on factories and injuries) Development and Enactment of OSH legislation

Deficiences in British & Dutch Models  Health & Safety Management System  Health & safety Policy  Safety and Health and Environment Committees  Confined Space Entry Procedures  Hazard Communication Standards  Medical Monitoring & Surveillance  Process Safety Management  Workers Training  Lock-out Procedure  Construction Regulations

National Perspectives Antigua & Barbuda- Revised legislation Enacted in 1975 Dominica - Revised legislation Enacted in 1990 Grenada – Factories Act, Revised in 1990, Employment Act No.14, Revised in 1999, Labour Relations Act No. 15, Revised in 1999 Trinidad and Tobago - In 2004, Revised legislation is in preparation for enactment Suriname - After Independence (1975) - New Regulation - (a) Insurance benefits for injuries (1976)

National Perspectives (b) The employer has an obligation to maintain an accident register Suriname contd After Revolution in 1980, in 1981, the emphasis was on safety procedures within the health framework

Caricom Model In 1996, Ministers of Labour from Caricom countries formulated the model based on the ILO Code of Practice on recording and notification of occupational accidents and diseases and the best practices from the legislations of the various caricom countries An idealistic framework

Differences in National Perspectives OECS countries and Suriname are upgrading legislation to meet Caricom model Trinidad and Tobago OSH Act:No1 of 2004 covers all industrial establishments except premises for residential purposes. However, special measures are included for pregnant women

Constraints Lack of financial resources Lack of trained personnel Absence of a consistent public education programme (except Suriname) Absence of technical equipment Absence of national and regional databases Generally, lack of opportunity for tertiary education

Recommendations Cont’d  To eliminate this situation of abuse:  Development of a process consisting of several strategies involving international relation techniques and other relevant techniques with regards to the approach to the heads of nations in order to convince them that the greatest wealth of any nation is the human resource and hence, the well being of workers is significant  This process approach must be tailored to suit the needs of the nation and its present situations

Recommendations Cont’d  Methods ( Public relations techniques) to convince occupiers/employers and to cause them (without force) to willfully comply with the OSH legislation, although the mission of the legislation is enforcement  To “sell” to the occupiers/employers the fact that proper implementation of OSH legislation will result in great cost benefits (positive economic indicators)

Recommendations Cont’d  To encourage the tripartite consensus  Mentoring aspect with regards to training and advisory in the usage of equipment and process safety  Governments may need to consider strategies to assist entrepreneurs financially in the organization of adequate working conditions for the employees  A regional center of occupational safety and health should be established for the ease of availability of technical expertise for the Caricom member states