Published by Youri Kemp, The Nassau Guardian, March 7th, 2025
Peter Goudie, the labor division head of the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation, said that the anticipated Occupational Health and Safety (OHSA) Act will save National Insurance millions of dollars once enacted.
Goudie told Guardian Business that Minister of Labor and the Public Service,Pia Glover-Rolle is his “champion” on getting the much-needed OHSA to Parliament before the end of this year.
He added that implementing these regulations is expected to reduce industrial accidents, lowering national insurance costs, and ensure worker safety.
“Robert Farquharson, who’s in charge of the special projects unit in the Ministry of Labor, he’s going to be working on it with us. The minister [Glover-Rolle] wants to see it coming in. If it’s just an act, but there are no regulations, no rules, then there is no power in it. And so we’re going to be doing a lot of work on that. It’s going to be a lot of work, but there’s a lot of legislation out there in other countries that we can always look at.”
Bahamas Society of Engineers President Dr. Stephen Curran told Guardian Business that the 100 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations recorded by the Department of Labor in 2023 were the “tip of the iceberg”, and that there are probably “thousands” of infractions taking place every year.
Goudie added: “That doesn’t surprise me at all. A lot of these workplaces and a lot of the builders, they operate in totally unsafe environments. We’re going to work on it and try and get it through legislation and get on with life, and try to make it safe for our workers. That’s the main thing.”
Goudie said the savings on insurance premiums in the long term as a result of the legislation would be significantly important.
“Also, if you get a bunch of industrial accidents, then National Insurance has to pay all that money. Every time there’s an industrial accident, National Insurance pays for it, all the medical bills.
“So if we can reduce industrial accidents, which we will once we get this done, then you’re going to save the country and National Insurance millions of dollars.”
Goudie added that once the OHSA Act is enacted, regulators would have the legislative authority to go to workplaces and mandate that they enforce health and safety standards that would keep workers safe.
Read the entire new report >>> https://www.thenassauguardian.com/business/goudie-osha-act-would-save-natl-insurance-millions-once-enacted/article_552986b6-facb-11ef-8fba-ef287f608528.html
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