By Kurt Campbell
[www.inewsguyana.com] – Figures released by the Ministry Labour indicates that there were 486 workplace accidents for 2013 with 10 of those accidents being fatal.
Surprisingly and unlike previous years, the bulk of those accidents/fatalities did not occur in the mining sector. In fact, the mining sector accounted for one of the death recorded.
This is according to Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul who said that the manufacturing sector accounted for five of the fatalities, while the bauxite sector accounted for three and the tourism sector the other one.
The Minister said his ministry continues to beef up inspections of workplaces to ensure adherence to occupational health and safety guidelines. He noted however that a small amount of these accidents have been as a result of failure to follow safety guidelines.
The Minister added that the total number of accidents this year is a reduction from previous year. A total of 738 industrial accidents were recorded by the Ministry of Labour in 2012 with 12 of those being fatal.
The mining industry accounted for six of the accidents, four occurred in the shipping industry, while there was one each in the fishing industry and forestry sector in 2012.
Dr. Gopaul explained that all accidents are reported by employers to the Ministry from the statistics were drawn.
