– says Guyana’s transformation must be matched by stronger worker safeguards
Prime Minister, Brigadier (Ret’d) the Honorable Mark Phillips urged employers across all sectors to treat psychosocial safety as a critical part of workplace protection.
He stressed that Guyana’s rapid transformation must be matched by stronger systems safeguarding the physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of workers.
While delivering remarks at the Occupational Safety and Health Symposium at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, held in observance of World Day for Safety and Health at Work, the Prime Minister said that while Guyana has made meaningful strides in physical safety, the conversation must now move into “new ground” with greater focus on the psychosocial dimension of worker wellbeing.
“The theme asks us to examine workload and working hours, role clarity and autonomy, the fairness of processes and the quality of relationships between those who lead and those who labour… It also calls on us to confront a reality that has too often been ignored: that sustainable productivity is inseparable from balance.”
The Prime Minister emphasised that as Guyana undergoes significant economic transformation, with the expansion of the energy sector and major infrastructure developments, progress must not come at the expense of workers’ lives or wellbeing.
He noted that the country’s occupational health and safety culture has evolved from being largely reactive to one increasingly focused on prevention, regulation, training, and higher standards.
“Our occupational safety systems and policies have been reviewed and strengthened, and we continue to assess improvements at a policy and legislative level.
We have trained a new generation of Guyanese safety professionals.
We have insisted that every individual must meet the highest internationally recognised standards of worker protection.
We will not trade safety for speed because the value of human life is paramount in everything we do.”
He underscored that this year’s theme must translate from a slogan to a “living standard” in Guyana’s workplaces.
National development, he added, depends on the labour, skills, and sacrifice of men and women who build the country’s future, and workers are owed fair wages and safe and supportive environments both physically and psychologically.
Good psychosocial working environments, the Prime Minister explained, are created through deliberate leadership, fair systems, clear roles, open communication, and cultures that allow employees to raise concerns without fear of reprisal.
“I am calling on every employer represented in this room today, in every sector and industry, to make a genuine commitment to psychosocial safety as a pillar of your QHSE framework.
Audit your workplace for physical and psychological hazards.
Train your managers to lead with empathy and create cultures where a worker can say ‘I am not okay today’ without career consequences.”
Minister of Finance, the Honourable Dr Ashni Singh; Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning, the Honourable Keoma Griffith; other Cabinet members; occupational health and safety practitioners; employer representatives; and other stakeholders attended the symposium.
