Chamber Hopes OSH Law Will Take Effect Soon

Wednesday morning’s freak accident at the B.D.F. Air Wing in Ladyville has brought the conversation about safety precautions, as well as the need for employers to provide protective gear for their employees, back to the fore. Today, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has been championing the passage of the law along with the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, weighed in on the matter. The Chamber’s Chief Policy Analyst, Joshua Pott, told News Five today that with the draft bill completed, it’s their hope that the law will be enacted very soon, and that employers and employees know what roles they play when the law takes effect.

Joshua Pott

Joshua Pott, Chief Policy Analyst, B.C.C.I.

“The compilation of the OSHA law has been completed from a task force that involved both the B.C.C.I, and the N.T.U.C.B, and the Labor Department. The last that we’ve heard is that the government is going to embark on a further revision, pulling together their own task force to review the bill before it’s finalized and introduced at the House. I think it’s important when we’re talking about the OSH to recognize that its primary purpose is to clarify the responsibilities of both employees and employers as it relates to occupational safety and health. And we also need to appreciate that OSH is something, again, that is jointly, that needs to be jointly worked on. And it’s a coordinated effort between employees and employers to hold each other to account to ensure that employers are providing the employees with the necessary work equipment, the necessary protective gear, and that employers are holding employees to account in wearing them in their proper utilization. So I think when, again, when we talk about us, we do need to recognize that shared responsibility. Um, on the safety and health side here, the bill covers both exposure to chemicals, for example, and issues like simply wearing protective gear. When it comes to something as important as occupational safety and health, then employers generally recognize its importance, recognizing importance of keeping employees safe, and they recognize their responsibility in ensuring that Uh, the people who work with them are, you know, safe and just to avert unnecessary and, um, harm and loss of life.”