Barama permitted to restart Buckhall plant

Sep 17, 2010 News

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– amidst stringent new safety measures

By Leonard Gildarie

Following the death of an employee more than two weeks ago in a wood chipper, and a decision to close off the operations of a veneer plant at Buckhall, Essequibo, the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday gave the green light for production to restart.
And labour investigators probing the death of 19-year-old Jason Fraser says that from all indications it was an industrial accident.
Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, had ordered Malaysian-owned, Barama Company Limited (BCL), to close its veneer factory at Buckhall after Fraser’s remains were found in the bottom of a wood chipper machine that he had been operating.

Fraser disappeared on August 30 and his remains were found four days later. Police deemed the case an accident. The Ministry of Labour ordered the machine’s operation to be suspended, and Persaud, citing safety and other concerns, went further and halted operations of the veneer factory.
BCL then announced its decision to close off all its productions, including sawmilling, until a review of its operations and new safety measures were in place.
The chipper machine was a crucial part of operations, feeding a boiler to a veneer kiln drier. It is believed that Fraser got caught in a conveyor belt that feeds the chipper blades, and was pulled into them.
New safety measures
However, while the veneer plant has been given the green light, it only came after the company earlier this week submitted a new occupational health and safety and monitoring plan to government.
In giving approval for the veneer factory to restart operations, Minister Persaud warned the company of adhering to safety regulations of the Ministry of Labour. There will be increased monitoring of these protocols by both the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) as well as the Labour Ministry, the official said in a letter to the BCL’s Chief Executive Officer, Clement Ooi. Specifically, GFC has been mandated to monitor activities at the Buckhall operations to ensure that newly agreed safety regulations are implemented.
BCL employs an estimated 665 persons directly in its operations and there were fears that the local plywood supply would have been affected.
Yesterday, Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, in pointing out that government approved the new safety and monitoring measures submitted by BCL, disclosed that inspectors will be paying closer attention to all operations of the company.

The incident and its fallout have now triggered a move to increase monitoring of all lumber yards, sawmills and wood processing operations across the country, Nadir said.
“We are also reviewing all accidents in the workplaces over the last two years and based on what we see, by the end of month we will be hosting a public awareness campaign. We are also asking employees who feel they are operating in an unsafe environment to call us…let us know what is going on.”
Already the Labour Ministry has been coordinating with the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry to further educate its member companies on the need for increased monitoring of safety and health at workplaces.
According to Minister Nadir, while investigations are not fully completed, labour officials probing the death of the teenager, are deeming it an industrial accident.
However, the Minister, declined to officially pronounce on the matter since there are still a few “outstanding, unanswered issues”.
Last week, labour officials led by Nadir, visited the Buckhall operations, inspecting the wood chipper. The absence of blood in the machine’s proximity had left several questions, with even BCL officials saying that they were puzzled.
The investigators had stopped short of calling it foul play, but made it clear that too many issues remained before the case could even be declared an industrial accident.
Accompanying the Minister were his Permanent Secretary, Trevor Thomas; Chief Labour Officer, Yog Persaud, and his deputy, Clive Nurse, among others.
BCL’s officials, which included Chief Executive Officer, Clement Ooi, were intensely grilled by the team over the company’s supervisory and safety processes and its track record of deaths and accidents.
Labour officials have also indicated that BCL is talking to the family of Jason Fraser.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, while the company, which conducts logging and other downstream forestry operations, has been in operation since 1991, it is now prepared to re-evaluate its safety and other issues, in keeping with government’s demands.
He noted that in August, the Labour Ministry conducted an audit with no major issues surfacing.

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