| KINGSTON, July 4 (JIS): |
| The
final review of the Occupational Safety and Health Act is complete,
and the Bill will be tabled in Parliament during this fiscal year. This was announced by Minister of Labour and Social Security, Horace Dalley, during his contribution to the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in the House last week. The Minister said it was anticipated that by 2006 the number of workers covered under the Occupational Health and Safety Act would move from 5 per cent to 85 per cent. He noted that while only about 5 per cent of the labour force was currently covered by the current legislation, supervised by the Industrial Safety Department, the Ministry remained committed to the maintenance of suitable occupational safety and health standards at industrial and commercial undertakings throughout the island. Mr. Dalley told the House that over the last year, some 101 accidents were reported, of which nearly 84 per cent of those qualified for investigation were investigated. On the matter of child labour, the Minister said although “not as grave as in other countries”, the kinds of work that threatened the development of the child, such as children involved in commercial sexual exploitation, drug trafficking and working in marijuana fields, were still concerns. The
Minister noted that the Ministry’s national programme on the
prevention and elimination of child labour has achieved much success
to date. He informed that a recent survey on child labour conducted
by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), with support from
the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations
Children Fund (UNICEF), found that the number of children involved
in the worst forms of child labour has decreased from 22,000 in
1994 to 17,000 in 2004. |
