Suicide higher among workers in Agri Sector – Minister tells US meeting

Oct 01, 2015 News

Suicide is high in Guyana but seemingly higher among those working in the agricultural sector.
This assertion was yesterday made by Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton.
The Minister was at the time contributing to a Plan of Action on Workers’ Health during the ongoing 54th Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) Council meeting in Washington D.C.
In his deliberations on the issue of suicide, the Minister speculated that it “may be associated with greater accessibility to herbicides.”
The health of workers was among the issues brought to the fore at the ongoing meeting yesterday. Addressing the topic from a Guyana perspective Minister Norton amplified that the issue of workers’ health is already an issue of concern for the Government of Guyana.
He said that the fields of agriculture, sugar and rice production are sources of employment for many persons along the coast where the majority of the population resides. The Minister spoke of bauxite mining as another major source of employment in the coastal region.
He added, too, that gold mining and timber exploitation are sources of employment for those in the tropical rainforest areas in the south and western regions of Guyana.
He noted that “like a number of other member states in the Region, we also have a high proportion of people employed in the informal sector; those who are exposed to hazardous working conditions and those who suffer from occupational related injuries and disease.”
He highlighted the fact that the incidence of occupational injuries, especially among sugar cane harvesters and others in the field of agriculture is high.
But according to him, the bauxite mining industry has been identified as another area in which workers’ safety is an issue. He made reference to the fact that air pollution, for instance, can result in a high prevalence of chronic respiratory illness. “There is, no doubt, a need for increased training and education to sensitize all who work in the mining industry of the occupational risks and hazards,” said the Minister.
“In the gold mining sector, accidental deaths among miners are frequently reported. They range from drowning after accidents by boats piloted by unlicensed captains to being buried under loose earth as walls of excavated pits collapsed.”
Dr Norton went on to note that although the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission has developed guidelines which mining operators should follow, the Ministry of Social Protection will make every effort to ensure that safety regulations are followed and protective gear made available to workers.
But the issues affecting workers do not stop there as there is also a disease component.
The Minister in alluding to malaria said that “it is an endemic in our country and especially prevalent among those working in the mining and timber industry in virgin rainforest areas, where the majority of the population is of indigenous heritage. In our view, malaria is a work-related illness in those areas.”
Moreover, ensuring workers’ safety is a high priority for government, Dr Norton told the Directing Council gathering adding that “we support the proposed resolution on the Plan of Action on Workers’ Health, CD54/10 as we are convinced that the proposed strategic lines of action are all relevant and can be used in our efforts to improve workers’ health in Guyana.”

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Suicide higher among workers in Agri Sector – Minister tells US meeting

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