Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles (left) speaks with Dr Owen James (centre), chairman of the steering commitee for the Jamaica Occupational Health Professionals Association, and Dr Dilini DeSilva-Chen, occupational therapist - Newport Medical Group, at the association's launch, last Friday night at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica Auditorium, New Kingston. - contributed

Pearnel Charles, minister of labour and social security, is promising that the Occupational Safety and Health Act will be introduced very soon.

Speaking last Friday night during the launch of the Jamaica Occupational Health Professionals Association (JOHPA), Charles said his ministry intended to fast-track the legislation to ensure that Jamaica's workplaces are safe.

"We are going to make sure that the laws are on the books," Charles told the gathering at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica Auditorium in St Andrew.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act has been in the works since 1995. The bill is intended to address safety and health issues at the workplace.

Lack of awareness

The legislation was advocated by the International Labour Organisation, which noted in a report that occupational safety problems in Jamaica were largely due to lack of awareness and knowledge about the hazards faced by employers and employees.

The proposed bill is expected to replace the current Factories Act, which was passed in 1943, and which does not address current issues - such as noise control, hazardous chemicals and the field of occupational health, in general.

In his remarks, Clinton Thompson, commissioner of mines, said it was important that various strategies be adopted to promote occupational safety and health.

"We must all work together to preserve life and limb. A safe workplace is a more productive one," he said.

Meanwhile, Major Clive Davis, of Safety and Emergency Management Systems, described Friday night's launch as historic.

"I welcome you to the fight to protect our people," he said.

Guest speaker Dr Ernest Pate, Pan American Health Organisation and World Health Organisation representative in Jamaica, said the nation's citizens spend more than a third of their lives at work. This, he said, could have a major impact on their health and well-being.

He congratulated JOHPA for its attempt to lobby for the adoption of safe occupational health practices.

Pate said occupational safety has been given little attention in the Caribbean and other countries, adding that there were weaknesses in institutions that were responsible for the enforcement of better working conditions.

JOHPA's plans for occupational health in Jamaica

The association plans to:

- Build awareness of the discipline of occupational health (OH)

- Help OH professionals operate at their optimum by increasing their knowledge and skills

- Educate the public

- Sensitise employers' need for the 'best practices' in their work procedures and at the workplace

- Lobby for passage of relevant legislation to support good occupational health and safety principles

- Ensure that all workplaces in Jamaica are healthy and safe.