And when we asked the PM about the bill after the meeting, he explained that it had to go through several revisions but was ultimately ignored for years during the UDP's time in office. He also lamented the absence of the Opposition during what he calls a historic sitting.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"It's a bill that has gone through 17 years and I remember when we first presented the OSH bill under the Musa government, it was a very ambitious bill and the way it was presented, if I could remember a little bit, there were certain things that weren't really practical, for instance, they were talking in the cane fields that for every 5, 10 persons you have to put a toilet, that's an example. so there were a lot of things that were not really practical and so we had to go through revising it and our term came to an end. The UDP came into government and I don't think they ever paid attention to it and since we came in, we've been working hard on it and we had to ensure that it is a bill that can work that both the private sector and labor can be able to live with that and work with. So I'm happy that we finally crossed that hurdle and so today we passed the second and third reading. It's unfortunate that the opposition chose not to attend this meeting because our workers for all across the country have been clamoring for it."
"First of all, the employers have to make sure they can protect their employees at all times when they put them to work. for example, especially in the construction industry, there are many times when you see workers all the way on the top of a roof and it has an angle and no rope or anything to hold them back should they slip and there have been so many sad cases when people slip, they fall, break their feet, they can't go back to work and they live on the little they get from Social Security. And with this bill, we have to try to provide some form of protection for them. And also it gives the right to the employee to be able to say I can't work under these conditions because it is hazardous and it doesn't give me that protection and then they can't be fired for that because then again they can go and report to the committee."
And the UDP issued a press release stating that just because they boycotted today's meeting, it doesn't mean that they don't support the bill. However, they added that, quote, "The passage of the Bill in its current form alone will not be enough… Key observations in the Amended Bill include: the broad powers granted to inspectors -including the authority to require costly examinations and tests at the employer's expense; the heavy reliance on Ministerial regulations and orders to define key aspects of implementation, penalties, and timelines; a penalty notice system that may allow certain violations to be settled by payment of a fee, rather than through meaningful corrective or deterrent action; and, the absence of a clear remedy for workers who are harmed by contraventions of the Act." End quote.
