Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) –Support to implement the OHS Act of 2017

On September 10 – 14, 2019, two experts from the Ministry of Labour of Barbados visited the Ministry of Labour of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to provide guidance on the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 2017.

For five days, the delegation from Barbados held meetings to provide technical assistance, as well as to acquire information on the current state of affairs in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the implementation of that piece of legislation. Among the participant agencies were the Department of Labour and authorities of tourism, electricity, emergency, police forces, environment, and health. Meetings were also held with employers and workers.

During these meetings, the experts from Barbados had the opportunity to get to know and analyze the resources that St. Vincent and the Grenadines could use for a succesful implementation, as well as the main challenges to be faced in the process. 

Based on the considerations from the visiting delegation, the St. Vincent Department of Labour indicated that among the Next Steps are the enforcement of existing OSH related legislations; the development of procedures and policies, especially those related to the use of human resources for the OSH inspections; to strengthen inter-agency cooperation, and the development of clear guidelines to be implemented also through worker unions.