There is help... but employers do not use it

"Rather than issuing enforcement notices, the Occupational Health and Safety Authority should coach employers into designing adequate health and safety policies and procedures."

George T. Ebejer's article "Expensive accidents" - Employers need help" (May 21), and especially the quote above caught my attention and made me read the whole article with much interest. I cannot but agree with what Mr Ebejer wrote. But there is something that I do not agree with, so I will only limit myself to just that.

With regards to employers needing help, I must state that there is help. It costs money, but there is help. Of course, one has to fetch it, something that employers are not doing probably because maybe for them it is still only a cost and not an investment in their human resources. To substantiate this, I will give one example.

Very recently, between Tuesday, May 4 and Thursday, May 6, as secretary for the Hotels, Food and Beverages Section of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, I attended a programme presented by Mark Gauci, chief executive officer of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority entitled "Managing Health and Safety". This programme was organised by the Malta Tourism Authority in conjunction with the OHSA, aimed for top management in hotels.

The union's Hotels, Food and Beverages Section, being very conscious of the importance of such a programme, besides making it a point to attend, e-mailed approximately 45 hotels in the five- and four-star categories, informing them of this programme, in the hope that hoteliers would send members of their management staff for this very important activity.

Unfortunately, on arriving at the venue where the programme was going to be held on May 4, I realised that we were only going to be six participants (eventually the number came down to five). To make it worse, only two of the five participants came from hotels, one from the Sol Suncrest Hotel and the other from the Westin Dragonara Resort. Since January, I have attended two other similar courses organised by the MTA, in conjunction with other entities, and on both occasions, there was poor participation from the hoteliers.

The Hotels, Food and Beverages Section of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin urges hoteliers all over Malta to make use of this help and send their management and other staff for these programmes, which the Malta Tourism Authority is organising purposely for them.

¤ More information about future programmes organised by the MTA may be obtained from Joe Tanti by e-mail: joseph.tanti@visitmalta.com.