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Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 28, 2021 (SKNIS): St. Kitts and Nevis is joining with other members of the international community in marking today, Wednesday, April 28, 2021, as the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

The day was established by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2003 to stress the prevention of accidents and diseases in the workplace thereby capitalizing on the ILO’s traditional strengths of tripartism and social dialogue.

The Department of Labour in St. Kitts organized a series of activities to celebrate the international observance and promote greater awareness of how to create safer and healthier workplaces.

Last Saturday (April 24), staff members of the department and others participated in a health walk from the Department of Labour at Buckley’s Site to the third roundabout in Frigate Bay. The following day (April 25), the workers worshipped at the Calvary Baptist Church in Sandy Point.

Today, Wednesday – World Day for Safety and Health at Work – Minister of Labour, the Honourable Wendy Phipps, delivered a national address highlighting the occasion. She noted the theme: ‘Anticipate, Prepare and Respond to Crises: Invest Now in Resilient Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Systems’ and expressed that the theme chosen by the ILO “is deliberate in light of the COVID-19 pandemic which is, without question, is the single, most catastrophic crisis to affect our world in the past 100 years, in terms of health, labour markets and economies, and employment.”

Today, the staff also participated in a fire drill at the department and shared in a Virtual Labour Market Training Session facilitated by the ILO. Tonight, the general public is invited to tune in to a panel discussion on ZIZ Television at 8:30 pm. The discussion is based on the World Day theme.

Minister Phipps thanked Commissioner of Labour, Shernel James, and her staff for successfully staging activities for the 2021 observance of World Day for Safety and Health at Work. She also thanked all participating stakeholders for their support.

“I look forward to the continued support, partnership and collaboration with the requisite governmental agencies, and the social partners as our country moves toward the strengthening of our Occupational Safety and Health infrastructure for the benefit of all workers in St. Kitts and Nevis,” the Minister of Labour expressed.