Shirley ready to share new knowledge

Shanroy Shirley, safety officer at Kingston Container Terminal (KCT), and deputy chair of the Shipping Association of Jamaica Safety Committee has vowed to use the knowledge gained during a two-week Occupational Health and Safety Administrators (OSHA) course in Panama to promote behavioral-based safety.

Shirley was one of three Jamaicans who received a scholarship from the Organisation of American States (OAS) to participate in the two-week training programme in the City of Knowledge. The training was facilitated by the Atlantic OSHA Training Centre of the Universidad Metropolitana, based in Puerto Rico.

He received certification in OSHA 510: Occupational Safety and Health Standards for Construction and OSHA 511: Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry.

"Safety in the shipping industry is directly proportional to its profitability and gives it its competitive edge," Shirley said. "Hence, this OSHA course stands to bring value to the industry by reducing accidents initially and in the long term," he added.

The KCT safety officer explained that the common thread in both courses is the fact that it pays to be safe, regardless of the initial cost associated with implementing safety procedures and programmes. "In the long run, ignoring safety standards and safety rules will cost a lot more," Shirley noted.

The course, he said, covered the legal ramifications which can be mitigated by the implementation and enforcement of safety policies, standards and rules within an organisation. "This falls well in line with the pending Jamaica Occupational Safety and Health Act bill," Shirley said.

The other Jamaicans who were recipients of the scholarship were: Gademar Brown, National Water Commission and Rhonda Willacy, Petrojam Refinery. There were 32 awardees of the scholarship from Barbados, St Lucia, Belize, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Suriname, Grenada, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda.

"The multicultural and multiprofessional setting prepared each of us for information and knowledge sharing. This setting also encouraged high levels of participation and discussion, which was beneficial to all, considering the varying levels of each safety professional," Shirley said.

This scholarship was the first of its kind to be offered and conducted as it relates to safety.