2008 marks the three year anniversary of the death of three JPS workers whose lives were lost as a result of poor hazard recognition and risk management. This incident would have been prevented if workers were equipped with the skills to identify hazards and unsafe conditions. The University of the West Indies, Mona through the Occupational Environmental Safety and Health (OESH) programme offers its first suite of short professional development courses from October 27-31, 2008; designed to assist organizations in preventing or reducing work-related accidents and better manage organizational hazards and safety.

The short courses are: Essentials of Occupational Safety and Health (30 hours), Hazard Recognition, Evaluation and Control (6 hours), Accident Investigation (6 hours) and Conducting Workplace Inspections (6 hours). Presenters are drawn from diverse educational backgrounds and experiences and have been selected to deliver a high quality course tailored to meet the challenges facing Jamaican workplaces.

These short courses are geared towards safety committee members, trade union representatives, line managers, supervisors, newly appointed safety officers and other employees with responsibility for occupational safety and health. The courses are also aimed at providing an understanding of Occupational Safety and Health thereby providing participants with the ability and competence to assist their organizations to comply with and function within the existing and anticipated OSH legislative framework.

The schedule for courses is shown below:

For further information and to register please contact Elva Clarke at elva.clarke@uwimona.edu.jm or elvamail@gmail.com or telephone 876-512-3107 or 879-977-1834.