Labour Minister warns workplace drinking poses safety risk

Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning, Keoma Griffith on Thursday raised concerns about alcohol consumption among workers and warned that within the construction sector, this can cause serious risks. The minister warned that reporting for duty after heavy drinking places lives at risk and must be addressed as part of Guyana’s push to strengthen workplace safety. “I’m fortunate to have built a home before and I know that on Mondays the workers don’t come to work. Am I lying? They don’t come to work because on Sundays, they’re drinking. But some of them come to work on Monday. It requires us to interrogate this issue and see whether people are exposing themselves to dangers and risk and to harm. I’m encouraging all of you,” the minister said. Griffith stressed that construction work is a high-risk occupation where workers must be alert and able to make sound decisions, adding that employers and employees alike have a responsibility to ensure safety standards are upheld. The minister’s remarks came as the Ministry of Labour launched a nationwide occupational safety and health awareness campaign aimed at changing workplace attitudes toward safety. He urged contractors, builders and business owners to influence those around them by promoting safe work practices and ensuring everyone on job sites takes occupational safety seriously. “At the end of this entire exercise that we have a new culture of Guyanese who are serious about their safety, who are serious about those who work for them and that together we can all benefit from a country where safety is everyone’s’ priority,” he said. The minister also said that every sector that exposes persons to risks will be involved in this campaign. “When we are finished with construction we intend to go into other areas, we intend to go into mining, we intend to go into agriculture, we intend to go into every important and high risk sector where the safety of persons is high risk,” Griffith said.