Minister to meet more firms before implementing OSHA

In the House of Representatives on Wednesday night, Montano made the comment while replying to Member for Oropouche, Roodal Moonilal, who piloted a motion in the Lower House which dealt with the delay in implementing of OSHA.

Montano said he already met some employers and intended to meet more today, including representatives of Trinidad Cement Ltd (TCL) where two fatal accidents occurred within the last week.

Montano told the House that although the Act is not yet in place, everything will be all right in due course as with many good pieces of legislation. He went through the provisions of the Act diligently and found that the legislation fell short in many areas.

He noted that Government will not compromise on matters that affect workers.

"One of the major issues that the Act has not dealt with is the question of testing workers for the use of drugs.

We know that we have an economy that is being inundated with drugs from foreign sources. The impact on our young citizens has been dramatic. We know that it’s going to cause a problem for young people who are working in hazardous situations," said Montano.

He added, "We need to have a mechanism where we can at least protect them from themselves."

Montano said he plans to go to Cabinet with OSHA by the end of November, and by the middle of December, it is the way forward.

He hoped things would be in order by the end of March.

According to Montano, some 27 amendments have been identified, so "we can’t go any faster than we are going."

Earlier in his presentation, the Member for Oropouche said the government had failed as far as it related to the implementing of OSHA.

"There can be no developed country status without protecting workers," he said.