An official report on the findings of the BOSAI mines accident which claimed the life of a bulldozer operator will be made public at the end of this week. This is according to Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton who said that the findings so far have pointed to the need for changes to safety measures.
Minister Hamilton who was on site yesterday at BOSAI mines said that the Occupational Health and Safety Department of the Labour Ministry conducted various interviews with workers to assess several aspects of the company’s safety protocols.
Minister Hamilton lamented that while the death of the operator could have possibly been prevented, the current investigation by the department will point to safety mechanisms that should have been in place to either prevent industrial accidents or a mechanism to save lives.
“Now we can focus on the issue about the safety measures that should have been there and we have had people suggesting that there are specific things that should have been there that were not there. All of those things we would have to validate and verify,” the minister said.
Previously, the search party on the ground suspended its operation after concerns were raised about the structural integrity of the ground. Minister Hamilton had said, “The worst thing we can want to happen is that we end up with more people underground.”
BOSAI Operator, Neptrid Hercules and the bulldozer he was operating went missing around 4:00 hrs on Saturday last which immediately prompted a search and rescue effort coordinated by the Occupational Safety and Health Unit of the Ministry of Labour, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and the safety department at BOSAI.
The body of Hercules was found yesterday still inside of the bulldozer. Family members who flocked the scene were too inconsolable as his partly decomposed body was removed from under thick rubble at the mining site.
