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Guyana records 60% increase in workplace deaths in 2024 – Labour Minister
Kaieteur News- The Ministry of Labour has reported a troubling increase in workplace fatalities, with 32 deaths recorded in 2024, representing a 60% increase from the 2023 total of 22 fatalities.
Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, disclosed the statistics on Tuesday during the Ministry’s end-of-year press conference at its headquarters on Brickdam, Georgetown.
“One of the things we are concerned about this year are being workplace deaths…We started with 2020, 32 persons lost their lives and up until 2023 it was 22. Regrettably, with all that we have done in 2024, 32 persons lost their lives in workplaces,” Minister Hamilton said.
Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton
The Ministry’s report reveals that of the 32 fatalities, 31 were male workers and one was a female worker. The majority of the fatalities were linked to incidents in the mining and construction sectors, which are known to be high-risk. Minister Hamilton noted that the mining and quarrying sector was responsible for 48% of the fatal accidents last year.
In addition to the workplace deaths, Minister Hamilton shared that the Ministry had investigated 144 non-fatal accidents, from a total of 543 reported cases in 2024. He also highlighted a slight improvement, noting a 5% reduction in the number of non-fatal accidents compared to 2023.
Minister Hamilton identified the primary causes of fatal accidents as unsafe working systems or methods, unsafe conditions, or a combination of both. He also outlined the sectors with the highest number of non-fatal accidents: the agriculture sector, which accounted for 61.3%, the manufacturing sector at 15.2%, and the mining and quarrying sector at 8.6%.
Given the alarming rise in fatal workplace accidents, Minister Hamilton stressed the need for enhanced safety programmes and training in 2025 to address the issue. He highlighted that, in 2024, training programmes were conducted with both private and public corporations to improve the management of health and safety committees, with the aim of reducing the number of fatal workplace accidents.
The minister said, “We have to, as a nation, execute a project, a programme, PR (public relations) and communication strategy to even reach in the homes of the people. We hope that the media can help us in 2025 to execute a programme dealing with the culture of Guyanese of ‘we don’t care.’”
He added, “If we don’t change the culture in this country, let’s all go prepare to play dominoes and cards at wake houses and bury people the next day.”
At the end of the press conference, when asked by the media on whether any companies had been charged in connection with the fatal accidents, Minister Hamilton clarified that no charges had been filed for the fatalities themselves. However, he confirmed that charges had been filed against a company related to a serious workplace accident.
(Guyana records 60% increase in workplace deaths in 2024 – Labour Minister)
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