Engineers seek improved safety standards
In case you missed the announcement, this is Engineers Week. Under the theme, “Engineers Make a World of Difference”, construction professionals and students have been meeting at the Biltmore Plaza for a series of seminars on issues affecting the industry. High on the list of priorities is the lack of occupational health and safety standards at construction sites. According to local expert C. Phillip Waight, every year accidents on the job result in millions of dollars in benefit payments and thousands more in lost revenues. But even more disturbing is the loss of life due to negligent practices. In his address this afternoon, Waight stressed that while safety may be initially expensive, a life should never be undervalued.
C. Phillip Waight, Occupational Health/Safety Expert
“We grow up with this macho culture, we are big, we can do things, we don’t worry about what’s happening to us and because of that situation we ignore safety. We tend to think that safety as, for want of a better word, is a “sissy” thing. You’re too soft to be safe. You see, the effects of safety, while some will be immediate, some are long term and by the time it creeps up on you realise that you don’t know what to blame so because some of the effects are not immediate and because things can move on rapidly. And again economics: If I have to feed my kids and I have to struggle to put bread on the table and it means losing a finger or thumb to make sure that I get that pay check, I will work to put that bread on the table forgoing myself. And throughout the Central American countries, you find that you go to conferences and they talk about we know what the consequences are but I need my pay check.”
Janelle Chanona
“That said, beyond the law, because I know the legislation has not been enacted yet into law, how do you get people to make that mental shift to want to be safe at the jobsite.”
C. Phillip Waight
“Education, training, sensitising. We have to do more seminars, we have to go to worksites and talk to people along with the Labour Department, Social Security, we go out there and talk to people and let the understand what is actually happening. If people are not seeing and if it’s not being made conscious, people will just overlook it. But if you start educating and train…the more knowledge you gain, the better you start understanding hey, there’s an easier, faster, safer way to do things and you gravitate towards that. But right now ignorance is one of the major problems why we take it for granted that hmm, this is the best way to get things done.”
According to Waight, in 2007 the Association of Professional Engineers of Belize drafted legislation designed to better regulate the industry and implement stiff penalties for violations. The document was submitted to Cabinet but due to a lack of support from both APEB and Belmopan, the bill was never taken to the House of Representatives for approval.
