Vigilance key – labour minister

Barbadians have been urged to become “inspectors of workplaces” in an effort to ensure that businesses provide safe environments for workers and customers.

The call has come from Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector, Colin Jordan who today revealed that Government was moving towards having businesses display a certificate by the Chief Fire Officer, showing that the building was in compliance with safety regulations.

He made the comments while leading off debate on the Safety and Health at Work (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in Parliament this morning.

Jordan said the certificate would have to be displayed in a “prominent place”, allowing persons to be able to recognize if any business was safe.

He recalled the disastrous fire at Campus Trendz on Tudor Street in 2010, when six young women lost their lives.

“Just over 10 years ago we had a scenario that is still difficult to reflect on, still difficult to come to grips with. We refer to it as the Campus Trendz disaster. People died, workers died. There are scores, hundreds of workplaces in this country and part of the reason for asking for this certificate to be displayed is to engage Barbadians as inspectors of workplaces.

“We want, and this is very deliberate, we want Barbadians to go into workplaces and be looking for a fire certificate. We want Barbadians when they don’t see a fire certificate to raise cane, raise hell, holler hard. That is what we want because we want businesses to be compliant and with the best will in the world and with all the resources in the world, we are not going to be able to inspect every single workplace on a continuing basis,” Jordan maintained.

“But we believe that all of us have a vested interest in ensuring that workplaces comply with the highest standards of fire safety.”

Jordan said that more than a decade after the Campus Trendz fire, he was horrified to learn that businesses were still engaging in hazardous practices.

He revealed that one particular business on Tudor Street which he inspected had a backdoor that was blocked by a wrought iron gate which was padlocked. This business was a stone’s throw away from the scene of the Campus Trendz tragedy, he said.

According to the minister further investigations revealed that the key for the padlock was at another branch in Swan Street.

“That is some of the kind of, I don’t know if to call it nonsensical, inhumane kind of operation that we have to confront in the area of fire safety, having already been through a situation where lives have been lost,” Jordan lamented.

“I call today for all Barbadians once this Act is passed and proclaimed that whenever you go into a business or wherever you go – not a house – look for the fire certificate. Get some kind of indication that those who operate in that space want to treat to you as a human being and not just as a purveyor of $20 bills, $50 bills or cheque books.”

The minister said that was just one of a suite of amendments being proposed.

Jordan said clarity would also be given to some “grey areas” as it related to the right by employees to refuse dangerous tasks while at work.

Additionally, he said the issue of having bathrooms for both men and women at workplaces, employers providing PPE equipment for workers as well as medical checkups for those employees working in hazardous environments, would also be addressed in the amendments. (RB)