OSHA head pledges to get tough with employers

The new chairperson of the Occupational Safety and Health Authority (OSHA) is pledging to get tough with employers.

Dr Carol Bhagan-Khan made the point Friday when she was installed as the new head of the authority. She said she will ensure they all employers are are more compliant with health and safety regulations in Trinidad and Tobago.

Bhagan-Khan said she will use her office “to ensure workers in this country have a safe place of work and safe systems of work.” She pledged to use funds allocated to OSHA in the best possible way for the wider society, with the hope that productivity will increase with proper implementation of the rules.

In an address at the event Labour Minister Errol McLeod said the People’s Partnership Government is seeking to correct the injustice of the previous People’s National Movement (PNM) government by constituting the boards of the two agencies. He said the OSH Authority is an advisory body responsible for enforcement of the OSH Act, among other things. He there are three urgent issues to be addressed:

• the review and implementation of the recommendations arising from a recent comprehensive review of the operations of the agency 
• the advertisement and filling of the position of executive director of the OSH Agency, which has been vacant since May 2009
• the advertisement and filling of all other vacant senior positions in the OSH Agency so that it can execute its enforcement responsibilities effectively