GWI workers urged to up competence

Jun 12, 2018 News

Staffers of Guyana Water Inc. (GWI) are being challenged to pull out the stops to improve their competencies.
This was Dr. Richard Van West-Charles’ message to Operations, Sanitation and Sewerage workers during an internal meeting on Friday, June 8, at GWI’s Corporate Complex.
The Managing Director encouraged the workers, the majority of whom are male, to hone the skills they possess in their respective areas.
Only then, he said, will they be able to move up the rank and ensure a better service to customers. He added, too, that feedback from employees on the quality of service in their area is a good indicator if any improvement is needed for the rest of the community.

GWI’s Managing Director, Dr. Richard Van West Charles speaks with the workers in Friday.

Dr. Van West-Charles said that Guyana would be left behind otherwise.
He alluded to President David Granger’s call for equity among the livelihoods for all Guyanese, on the coast and interior locations.
GWI has held a number of training programmes for the staff and continues to make other opportunities available for them to better their individual skills.
Speaking to the risks associated with the nature of their jobs, the Managing Director told the workers that they make up the company’s most valuable assets and therefore following the correct occupational, health and safety procedures is vital. This includes being attired with the correct gear on the job.
“For the staff going down [in the sewerage system], they have a right to know their limits. Once we set the limits of safety for human health and they ask to see what the results are showing at this point in time before they go down, they have a right to know. And they should know what the limit of relatively minimal risk is.”
In this regard, he pointed out that training is critical, in terms of being knowledgeable of what has to happen if a casualty occurs.
“What have to be put in place are mass casualty drills, the management, what is the level that is minimal risk to you, with respect to the gases and the calibration of equipment has to be done with a degree of regularity to know that this equipment is functioning properly”, the Managing Director added.
Dr. Van West-Charles, who was joined by the Executive Director of Human Resources, Management and Development, Mr. Elvis Jordan and other senior managers, also addressed some of the burning concerns of the staff from the two departments.
He used the opportunity to speak to the gathering of men about the issue of domestic violence and call for more social interaction. He encouraged them to be more understanding in their thinking and to resolve their problems at the earliest possible time.