Mining joins list of deadly jobs in Guyana

Jul 20, 2013 News

Some 62 persons died on the job between February 2008 and last April, with a third of the deaths occurring in the mining sector.
The answers were provided by Labour Minister, Dr. Nanda Gopaul, to Leader of the Opposition Brigadier (Ret’d) David Granger who posed a series of questions recently in the National Assembly.

Mining is the deadliest job in Guyana.

Granger requested data on names of the persons whose deaths occurred as a result of the accidents or diseases while working. He also wanted to know whether any inquests or investigations have been conducted under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
According to the Labour Minister, in his answers tabled in the National Assembly Thursday, while there were no deaths from occupational diseases, there were no inquests conducted but there were internal investigations by the Labour Occupational Health and Safety Department.
Gopaul, in collaboration with other agencies.
Gopaul said that the Ministry has never appointed any Magistrate or Coroner to conduct any inquest into an industrial accident.
The Ministry said that employers have been prosecuted for failing to report accidents.
According to the answers, M and M Snackette paid a court fine while Cevon’s Waste Management had to fork out over $40,000 after being charged. Kishan Aluminium was also taken to court but the matter was struck out.
Of the 62 deaths listed, 23 of them were working in the extractive or mining sector, including gold and bauxite.
The forestry sector was the next deadliest with 11 persons killed. In the manufacturing sector, one person was killed while three were from the Guyana Power and Light Inc.
In the area of agriculture, four workers were killed, including two from the sugar industry.
Two construction workers also died on the job.