Investigation Underway: Ministry of Labour probes construction site incident in Guyana

Georgetown, Guyana: The Ministry of Labour, through its Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Department, is investigating the workplace incident involving two construction workers of RK Concrete Inc. that occurred at the company’s construction site at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD), according to the latest update by the Ministry.

As per the latest update shared by the Ministry through social media, the incident occurred on August 14, 2023; an RK Concrete Inc. construction team, which included 23-year-old Safraz Majeed and 18-year-old Avinash Ramphaul, was working on a wet roof of the building when they both fell.

Both workers were transported to the Diamond Diagnostic Center, where Majeed received medical treatment to his arm and left leg before being self-discharged on August 14, 2023. On August 15, 2023, he returned to the aforementioned institution for dressing.

Accordingly, Ramphaul, however, was referred to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), where he underwent surgery on his right-side hip and was medically discharged on Saturday, August 19, 2023.

The reports have claimed that this incident is presently being investigated by the OSH officer.

The Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, expressed his concern about workers being injured on the job and emphasised the need for good workplace safety and health practices in the workplace so that similar incidents/accidents that can result in the loss of lives of loved ones can be avoided.

The Ministry also informed that he further posits that his Ministry, through its OSH Department, is aggressively tackling unsafe workplace conditions and unsafe work practices through inspections and audits to reduce the number of accidents that occur in the formal and informal economies.

The Ministry of Labour of Guyana revealed that the investigations are ongoing, and each and every aspect of the incident will be surveyed.