Ministry of Labour Strengthening Safety Standards

In a move to strengthen its investigative capacity and propagate adherence to safety standards in the workplace, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, has appointed two additional industrial safety inspectors.
Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles, made the announcement at a meeting with executive members of the Incorporated Master Builders Association of Jamaica (IMAJ) at the Ministry’s North Street offices on Wednesday, October 3.
“We have strengthened our inspection section of the Ministry of Labour as far as health and safety is concerned, not only on construction sites but all working areas of Jamaica,” Mr. Charles informed. Questioning the integrity of a decking that breaks down while cement is being poured, “where you have top class engineers and foremen working on a site, somebody must tell me how that happen,” he declared.
“But in order to prevent that, we have sent out and will be sending to all workplaces inspectors to assist, not simply to prosecute, in guaranteeing safety and health of our workers, which means managers and employees on the job. We feel that there is some laxity there on some of the jobs. As you have seen, serious things could happen, many workers could be killed,” he observed.
“So, we are strengthening the investigating capacity not only for the work permit but for the safety and health section of the ministry,” Mr. Charles noted.
The appointment of the two officers brings the complement of inspectors in the Ministry’s Safety and Health department to 18.