By Amelia Smith

Environmental degradation in Trinidad and Tobago has historical roots and is attributed largely to economic growth and development and growth of the human population. The quest for economic growth and development have led the two sister islands along different paths. Trinidad is heavily industrialised and therefore suffers the attendant environmental problems associated with the production of petroleum products, nitrogen, sugar, ammonia, urea and fertilizer in addition to rum, soap, paint and wood products. Whereas Tobago depends largely on tourism and therefore suffers from the associated problems of large-scale construction, pollution of waterways, etc. In a nutshell what the country has been experiencing has been described as "Resource exploitation characterised by the search for short-term economic gain with little attention paid to long term sustainability" (Agard, 2000).

By Leo Knights
BSc Occupational Health, Safety and Environment
MSc Occupational Hygiene
Graduate member – Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
Lecturer- School of Business and Computer Science

Scholars have long argued that culture is a complex phenomenon which requires extensive research and debate so that a common thread could be established. This is viewed as a significant challenge when one considers how the rate of globalisation has disrupted the concept of time and space, and has increased the level of trans-national migration of people. Undoubtedly, these actions have resulted in the inertia of organisational culture that hobbles along, bearing the burden of modern age behavioural patterns, which were once considered useful, but have now lost their effectiveness (Couldry 2000; Daalmans 2013). While this article is intended to address the issue of safety culture, other cultural dimensions will be explored with a view to promote a healthier understanding of the topic.

Written by Alphonso Grennell

Driving is a risky activity. Each year, more than 300 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes and several more hundreds are injured in Jamaica. In the USA, over 40,000 people are killed in motor vehicle collisions and over 3 million people are injured annually...reading, writing, eating, adjusting the radio/CD/tape, interacting with others in the car, grooming, as well as cell phones use, were major distractions. Employing in-car video cameras to observe how drivers behave, the study concluded that all drivers in the study had been distracted to some degree...Most countries have some level of prohibitions on cell phone use while driving. In Australia, cell phone use while driving is banned in all states and fines varies. In Ireland, handheld cell phone use while driving is banned, with a fine of US$380 and/or up to 3 months imprisonment on a third offence...

Written by Norma Cherry-Fevrier

... Around the globe, there is evidence of vast amounts of environmental degradation. For this reason, sustainable activities along with sustainable financing mechanisms geared towards environmental conservation must be explored...In many Caribbean countries, revenue collected by the state for the financing of environmental conservation projects, such as environmental levies and taxes is often not used for the intended purpose, but instead, is put into national consolidated funds and used to finance other projects...As a result, new and more innovative financing mechanisms should be utilised to illustrate their benefits in the long term to society, the environment and the economy and not divided between the three as is sometimes presented...All things considered, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) should seek to utilise these sustainable financing options that can provide longer-term financing streams for conservation activities, rather than relying on traditional government funding that further increases national debt...

Written by Deryck D. Pattron

...Chemical safety may be defined as all the necessary activities taken from manufacture, synthesis, processing, storage, distribution, transportation, handling, use and disposal to ensure or preserve human health and safety and the environment... Hazardous chemicals constitute a wide range of industrial and commercial activities and have been directly or indirectly linked to occupational diseases through exposure to such substances... The major problem lies when these hazardous chemicals are improperly managed... The health burden of hazardous chemicals on societies is enormous and governments worldwide must take the necessary initiative to protect their most valuable resource-the public's health...

By Norma Cherry-Fevrier
Economist
Department of Planning and National Development
Castries, Saint Lucia

A dam can be defined as a barrier constructed across a river or stream to hold and control the flow of water for the purposes of water storage and supply, irrigation, transportation, electric power generation and flood control (River Keepers, 2005; Beck et al., 2012). Referred to as one of the oldest branches of engineering (Baxter, 1977) the construction of dams across rivers dates back to ancient times when the Sumerians dammed the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to provide flood control and irrigation for their crops (Beck et al., 2012). In recent times, the world's growing population and the need to meet its accompanied growing water and energy demands, has resulted in almost half of the world's rivers having at least one dam constructed across them (Wijensundara and Dayawansa, 2011).

By Mohamed Abd Elsalam
HSE Consultant and Trainer
Egypt

Construction sites create risks not only for the construction worker, but also for members of the public where the construction work is carried out on a site that is near or adjacent to the property boundary or to any public place where the general public operates. These operations require rules and safety procedures which are similarly as critical as for the construction employees on site. It is vital for the organisation managing the construction site to be able to control who is admitted to the site at particular times. If this isn't done they face the risk of injuries to the trespasser(s) and their employees.

The public is defined as all persons and property not affiliated with the construction project. This includes invitees to the construction project who are not employed by project constructor or contractor.