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Occupational Safety and Health Workshop conducted countrywide

Jun 11, 2011 News

A series of workshops and community outreaches on Occupational Safety and Health are being conducted by the Critchlow Labour College (CLC) which has been partnering with the College owner, the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The workshops were being sponsored by the ILO, with the principal objective being to develop the knowledge and skills of participants to implement Occupational Safety and Health management systems within their respective Trade Unions and workplaces.
From May 31 to June 3, GTUC Occupational Safety and Health Coordinator, Dale Beresford, was in Region One conducting two workshops on HIV/AIDS with workers drawn from Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Guyana Postal and Telecommunication Workers Union (GP&TWU), Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) and NGOs.
During this period the opportunity was taken to conduct HIV/AIDS testing and education in the communities of Matthews Ridge and Barima. Workers and the community were educated on what constitutes discrimination against persons living with HIV/AIDS, how the disease can be contracted or avoided, and when it is contracted where care can be sought.
Prior to the Region One workshop, a two-day workshop was held in New Amsterdam, Region Six, under the theme HIV/AIDS Rights the Rule of Law. This workshop was attended by seven (7) unions, namely: the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GB&GWU), Guyana Agriculture and General Workers Union (GAWU), Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), General Workers Union (GWU), Guyana Postal and General Workers Union (PTWU), Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union (AT&GWU)
In June 2010, the ILO adopted Recommendations concerning HIV and AIDS and the World of Work, 2010 (No.200). Accordingly in “In 2001, the ILO adopted the Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS and the world of work, which has been widely accepted and used in many countries. “In 2007, the Organization’s constituents decided that the time had come to raise the response of the world of work to HIV and AIDS to a different level through the development and adoption of an international labour standard.”
The ILO new labour standard is the first human rights instrument to focus on HIV and AIDS in the world of work, and it is the goal of the GTUC and CLC to ensure that as many workers as possible are made aware of it.
For labour, workers are consider those currently employed, retired/resigned and prospective new entrants.
All have and will continue to play a role in the country’s development and should equally benefit from the knowledge needed to play their as the Congress and College continue its struggle to create a just society for all.
HIV/AIDS still remains a stigma and because of this there continues to be discrimination in the workplace and society as a whole, causing some to refuse testing, and those who contract the virus or disease fearful to seek the requisite care.
People have also shied away from persons living with HIV/AIDS out of lack of knowledge of the disease, how it can be avoided, and if contracted how treatment can be accessed. These are issues workers and society grapple with every day, which also impact behaviours and management in the workplace.
Labour believes that education leads to an empowered people and an empowered people play meaningful roles in their development and the country as a whole.
Attendees have been charged to return to their workplace and respective community and share their knowledge with others. Principal of the College, Ivor English, said that there will continue to be more outreaches of this nature and on diverse issues that affect and impact workers in their workplace and community, and encourages persons to grasp the opportunities.

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