“If you don’t have a health and safety committee, you are breaking the law!” said Duke.

In a Facebook live earlier this week, President of the Public Services Association (PSA), Watson Duke shared the importance of a health and safety committee in every workplace. He stated that the health and safety committee was a joint committee between the management and the employees’ representatives, the union.  He stated that the role of the committee was to review the measures taken to ensure the safety and health of all employees. He said that employers without such a committee could not review the health and safety of employees.

“No employer can do it on his own, no employer can hire any health and safety expert on their own!” said Duke.

He said that during these Covid-19 times, it was the duty of the health and safety committee to ensure that there was a ‘Return to Work Covid Policy’, before employers brought their employees back out to work. Duke said this in the midst of many organizations and institutions breaching the fifty percent rotation policy mandated by the Government. He said that it was the duty of the committee to investigate any manner brought to them by any employee.

“You must have a return to work Covid-19 policy before you bring workers out to work in full measure… if you don’t have a health and safety committee, you are breaking the law!” said Duke.