The Ministry of Social Protection has appointed a National Advisory Council on Occupational Safety and Health (NACOSH) to advise the Minister responsible for Labour, on matters relating to occupational safety and health.
The seventeen (17) member body was appointed by Minister within the Ministry, Keith Scott and will serve for a period of one year.
Chairman of the council is Mr. Andrew Garnett who is an Occupational Safety Expert in his own right, the Ministry said.
“The appointment of the NACOSH is provided for by the Occupational Safety and Health Act, CAP. 99:10 and is designed to give greater efficacy to the Ministry’s mandate for the safety and health of all stakeholders on the occupational landscape in Guyana” a statement from the Ministry said.
The government said the appointment of NACOSH which has been dormant and dysfunctional for almost four years comes at a time when the government has renewed its resolve to promote and advance workers’ social protection.
In delivering the charge to the council, Minister Scott reiterated his Ministry’s willingness to partner with all willing participants from every section of society to ensure that the health and well-being of workers are treated with utmost importance.
Minister Scott expressed the hope that the NACOSH, inter alia, will carefully examine the relevant laws and recommend the necessary changes which will make Occupational Safety and Health a way of life throughout every industrial undertaking.
Minister Scott also indicated to the Council that due to the higher level to which industrial accident investigation are being taken, it may be expedient for members of the council to join with the Occupational Safety and Health Officer of the Ministry from time to time in the conduct of those investigations.
