Acting
in good faith on OSHA
The Trinidad Express
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com 02 05 06
All indications are that, as promised, full implementation of
the hotly debated Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)
will become a reality by February 17, or thereabout.
Several
weeks ago, and following public pressure from labour union leaders,
Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced that a compromise date
for implementation of the Act would be February 17 after the necessary
amendments were made to the legislation in accordance with established
procedure.
Several
business leaders already have underlined that OSHA affects everyone,
from the large corporations to the very small shops. But they
also indicated that these smaller businesses do not have the resources
to pay for the necessary training to understand all the things
they may need to do and therefore the Government should put in
place training programmes to educate the public at large on OSHA.
The
general feeling is that people need time to bring their businesses
up to standard, to become OSHA-certified or compliant.
Safety
and health are very necessary in every job and anything that will
protect against injuries and promote good health is desirable.
Therefore, information and education will be crucial in the successful
implementation of OSHA. The Government, labour unions and companies
will have to go the extra mile in sensitising the public on the
specifications of OSHA.
Undoubtedly,
the Prime Minister and the trade unions acted in good faith on
the OSHA matter by holding lengthy discussions and resolving their
differences, thereby clearing the way for the OSHA Act to be amended.
Now all parties, including the business sector, must act in good
faith to ensure that the workplace is OSHA-compliant. That will
benefit both the employer and workers.
The Trinidad Express
Wednesday, February 1st 2006
Copyright © 2006
The
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