Guyana: Ministry of Labour’s OSH dept starts investigation over incident at Mackenzie

Georgetown, Guyana: The Ministry of Labour, through its Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department, has launched an investigation into the workplace incident which occurred at Mackenzie Sports Club, Linden, Region Ten, according to the update shared by the ministry on April 26, 2023.

The ministry further shared the story of the incident and also shared the details of the victim. As per the update, Cledwin Richards, a labourer who was a member of the construction crew in charge of driving construction piles into the ground for the new pavilions at Mackenzie Sports Club, worked on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.

When he was ‘preparing’ the timber piles to be driven into the ground, he slipped and fell between two other piles on the ground while stepping on one of the six heaps that were stacked on top of each other. The man was pinned down when one of the huge lumber stacks rolled and landed on top of him.

It further noted that with the help of other workers at the site, the pile was removed, and Richards was rushed to the Linden Hospital Complex, where he was pronounced dead.

Additionally, it noted that on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Officer arrived at the scene and launched an investigation into the incident. The ministry further claimed that Joseph Hamilton, Minister of Labour, is deeply concerned about this incident and hopes for a quick resolution/conclusion to it.

“He believes that when a worker leaves his or her home to go to work, his or her family expects him or her to return home safely and that an incident like this must be traumatic,” it further noted.

In this regard, Minister Hamilton offers kind thoughts and prayers to the family, co-workers and friends of Richards as we await the conclusion of this matter.