Health Minister Joseph Cassar has told Parliament that if Opposition Whip Joe Mizzi wanted, he would have no problem asking the Occupational Health & Safety Authority to send officials to every government department and ascertain whether each one had first-aid boxes in all its workplaces. The outcome would depend on many answers from many people.

Mr Mizzi protested strongly that it was not what he wanted that counted, but what the OHSA should do as part of its remit.

Dr Cassar explained that it was not compulsory at law for every workplace to have a first-aid box, so the authority’s officials had not visited every department and no register existed with such data. But there was nothing to hold a director back from having one or more, depending on the nature of each workplace.

Mr Mizzi said first-aid boxes were important, and should be compulsory in certain workplaces. This mentality needed to be promoted.

Labour MP Carmelo Abela asked Dr Cassar if the public service had health and safety officers in each department, just like schools did. Dr Cassar said each department must have a person identified for health and safety oversight.

Answering Noel Farrugia (PL), Dr Cassar explained that not having a first-aid box in a department did not mean “falling back”, as Mr Farrugia was insisting, because it was not compulsory at law to have one.

The OHSA was doing a lot of good work, and he did not want to obscure their efforts Mr Farrugia said that since the minister himself was confirming that the authority was doing its job, any negative shadow was falling on him as minister.

Mr Abela said that the private sector was ostensibly obliged to follow OHSA-approved management systems at risk of penalty. Could the minister say this was being implemented in the public service?

Dr Cassar said he would talk to the authority and set MPs’ minds at rest.