KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, is advancing work to develop Jamaica’s national occupational safety and health (OSH) programme and policy.

The programme is key to strategies being pursued by the Ministry, through its Occupational Safety and Health Department (OSHD), to strengthen and streamline existing and pending legislative and institutional provisions designed to enhance the workplace environment.

The aim is to ensure adherence to and compliance with stipulated protocols regarding the creation of conducive workplace environments that will safeguard employees’ welfare, while enhancing productivity.

Development of Jamaica’s programme is consistent with the recommendations of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 91st sitting in 2003, during which members adopted the ‘New Global Strategies in Occupational Safety and Health’ Protocol. This document outlines the instruments, which countries need, to institute effective OSH systems, one of these being development of a national programme.

Central to Jamaica’s programme is the development of an Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). Labour and Social Security Minister, Derrick Kellier, has given an undertaking to make the necessary representation for the Bill’s passage in Parliament by the end of the 2013/14 legislative year next March.

The Bill is deemed pivotal to streamlining existing laws and regulations governing OSH in the workplace, which currently do not cover all areas of employment.

As a precursor to the programme’s development and passage of the Act, the Ministry has drafted an OSH Profile for Jamaica. The document was unveiled during a recent ceremony at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston.

It is intended to provide the necessary data that will set national priorities for action aimed at progressive and continual improvement of workplace safety and health. It consists of several key elements, including the legal framework and data relating to occupational accidents and diseases. Jamaica is one of more than 15 countries that have already developed national profiles, with another 20 currently in the process of doing so.

Jamaica’s OSH Profile indicates that the country has several laws and regulations relating to workplace OSH, which are administered by several regulatory bodies.

These include the OSHD; Mines and Geology Division; National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA); the Ministry of Health’s Environmental Health Unit; Pesticides Control Authority (PCA); and public health departments.