Labour Minister meets with the Safety Council of Trinidad and Tobago

Minister of Labour, Small and Micro Enterprise Development, the Honourable Errol Mc Leod

July 08, 2012:

The Honourable Errol McLeod, Minister of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development, met with members of the Management of The Safety Council of Trinidad and Tobago, earlier today at the Ministry’s Head Office, situate at the International Waterfront Centre, Tower C, Level 6 (Conference Room), #1 Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.

Among those present from The Safety Council of Trinidad and Tobago were: Mr. David St. Clair (President), Mr. Benjamin De La Rosa (Vice President), Mrs. Vanessa Thomas-Williams (Secretary), Mr. Kenneth Noel (Treasurer) and Mr. Patrick Laurence (Trustee).

The meeting, which commenced shortly after 10:00 a.m., involved discussions pertaining to the overall management of occupational, safety and health practices in Trinidad and Tobago, namely: the improvement of governing legislation; the standardization of certification for both ‘competent persons’ and ‘safety practitioners’ as well as the development of training and accredited programmes for health and safety practitioners, to name a few.

During the parties’ discourse, Minister McLeod expressed his continued commitment to the enhancement of health and safety practices in the workplace while the members of the Council, lobbied to foster a closer relationship with the Occupational, Safety and Health Agency (OSH Agency), they also proposed several recommendations for its improvement.

Some of these recommendations include: the engagement of more stakeholder consultations in order to solicit comments and suggestions on key occupational safety and health issues; the improvement of strategies to establish and maintain an appropriate safety culture at the national level and the publication of the OSH Agency’s Annual Plans and Periodic Reports.

The meeting ended shortly before 11:00 a.m.