Spate of accidents prompts Ministry of Labour to deploy inspectors to check on safety protocols in workplaces

The Ministry of Labour says it is deeply concerned about the
number of recent on-the-job accidents and will putting measures in
place to address this issue.

The last two months have seen at least three incidents that caused
serious injuries on the jobsite. One, in late June, involved Gregson
Joseph, a Ministry of Works employee, who was badly burned during
an explosion at the Burma Quarry. 

Two Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) workers were injured
last Friday, July 14, while winding up work in the Pigotts/Fitches
Creek Drive area.

Then, on Tuesday, July 18, an employee of a shipping company was
crushed between a truck and container while working at the Antigua
Port Authority. 

Denroy “Waka” Harrigan, 58, is now warded in the hospital’s
Intensive Care Unit in critical condition. He remains unconscious
and is on a ventilator.

As a result of all these incidents, the Ministry says it will be
“redoubling its efforts to ensure that employers and employees alike
take appropriate measures to ensure the protection of the health,
safety and welfare of all persons within the workplace.”

Therefore, its Labour Inspectorate will be conducting visits to
workplaces to ensure that safety precautions and measures are
adopted and implemented.

According to officials, “It has been proven and established that once
health, safety and welfare measures are practiced consistently in the
workplace, and among the workforce, unfortunate accidents in
workplaces will either be avoided or greatly diminished.”

An earlier accident on a construction site in the Pigeon Point area
saw two workers injured, one fatally, when a piece of equipment
reportedly slammed into a concrete wall, which toppled onto them.