Government committed to enforcing adequate health and safety conditions at work

“OUR commitment as governments to safeguard decent work and adequate health and safety conditions at work, can never be overstated.”

Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, stressed the above as representatives from governments in Latin America and the Caribbean, employers’ and workers’ organisations and occupational safety and health specialists gathered for a large virtual regional meeting held on World Day for Safety and Health at Work Day, also known as Safe Day 2021 on April 28. It was hosted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, to address the challenges to safety and health in the workplace, which have been posed by the COVID-19 crisis.

“What a coincidence it is for us that Safe Day is celebrated on April 28th, which I must tell you is the same day as our National Heroes’ Day in Barbados. What is even more striking, is that each of our ten National Heroes laboured tirelessly on behalf of the working classes whom they represented, to ensure that their inalienable rights and freedoms were recognised, and that they would be permitted the freedom to associate in a safe environment,” Mottley told those gathered.

Mottley acknowledged that navigating the COVID-19 pandemic has not been easy for Barbados or for any other tourism-dependent economy, as we are all still reeling from the fact that travel has stopped globally.

“In our own case in Barbados, add to that a home-grown adjustment programme, within the context of an IMF-sponsored programme and our desire, as we have done, to continue to reduce our debt levels even further than what we had done in the debt restructuring,” she added.

She however noted that even with Barbados’ prevailing economic circumstances, her Cabinet agreed on a set of measures that would mitigate the sudden vulnerability of workers during the first period of lockdown last year, and subsequently after that.

Mottley meanwhile stressed that discussions about the importance of occupational health and safety in the world of COVID-19 must take on a sense of urgency, especially for frontline workers who go out each day to protect the lives of others, no matter how difficult at times.

Vinícius Pinheiro, ILO Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, who was also in attendance at the meeting, stated: “This April 28th has a very special connotation.” He recalled that since the start of the pandemic, just over a year ago, the crisis had cost the region nearly one million lives, destroyed 26 million jobs, and caused several businesses to close.

Pointing out that COVID-19’s health, social and economic crisis is the reality of millions of people in the region, he noted that “after all we have experienced, it is not impossible for us to reorder priorities and put occupational safety and health at the top”.