Portland, St Mary sanitation workers get additional protective gear
Published:Monday | April 13, 2020 | 12:12 AMGareth Davis Sr/Gleaner Writer
IN A bid to boost their safety on the job, the North Eastern Parks and Markets (NEPM) Waste Management Limited has given its staff additional protective gear as they collect and dispose of garbage in Portland and St Mary during the coronavirus pandemic.
The sanitation workers have been given more gloves, masks, hand sanitisers, bleach, soap, and spray cans to safeguard them in their day-to-day operations.
Tracy Fakhourie, regional operations manager of the NEPM, told The Gleaner that as it provides an essential public service, the agency’s operations must continue in spite of the COVID-19 outbreak and so it has a duty to protect its workers.
“We commit to keeping our team informed and to ensure that they are equipped with the necessary protective gear and sanitation items,” Fakhourie said.
She added: “The safety of our workers is paramount and they are, arguably, the engine of our company. Each worker has received sanitation items – mask, gloves, and other forms of protective gear – which will assist them greatly in preventing the spread of the dreaded COVID-19.”
Fakhourie said that among the measures taken by NEPM to ensure the safety of workers are the sanitising of garbage trucks upon dispatch and departure from all disposal sites; provision of personal protective gear for sanitation crews, general workers, and those who work at the landfills.