Labour Officers’ capacity to be boosted

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Georgetown : The Ministry of Social Protection is striving to strengthen the capacity of its Labour Department, and as such, Labour Officers will be exposed to training programmes in key areas. This was disclosed by Minister within the Ministry, Simona Broomes who  explained that the Labour Officers have been conducting as many as eight inspections per week. However, she noted that while the officers have been very active, there is need for training, to ensure that during inspections, they are equipped to identify suspected human trafficking, or any other breach of the law. She revealed that the Ministry will soon be facilitating training in this regard.

On the matter of staff capability, Minister Broomes noted that the Labour Department is equipped with competent staff, who have the capacity to perform their designated duties.

 Minister Broomes said that the former administration had merged two departments: the Industrial Relations (IR) Department and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) which stifled both areas. The Ministry will now divide it, in order for the staff to properly fulfill their respective mandates.

“We want to ensure that Occupational Safety and Health has its own life, and that staff will only be focused on that area, and the Industrial Relations staff will only be dealing with those issues. So we will get more compliance, and the staff will no longer be juggling with the two areas,” Minister Broomes emphasised.