Worker’s health and safety in hospital infrastructure works are a priority

To ensure the physical integrity of construction workers in the IGSS hospital infrastructure works, UNOPS trains them on health and safety issues.

Guatemala, June 4, 2021. The first of five talks on health and safety issues for construction workers currently working in the hospital infrastructure works of the Guatemalan Social Security Institute (IGSS) in zone 11 of the capital city and in Escuintla finished this week. They were implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) within the framework of the INFRAIGSS Program.

INFRAIGSS is the Infrastructure, Hospital Equipment and IT Modernization Program established by the Social Security, with the support of UNOPS to strengthen the capacities of the Social Security for the implementation of the Phase 2 of the Master Plan for the Modernization and Expansion of the IGSS Hospital Network and Services.

Almost 150 people learned about the origin of the UNOPS Goal Zero and the 10 golden rules that must be considered to ensure everyone’s physical integrity. Silvia Menegazzo, Health, and Safety Associate of the INFRAIGSS Program, spoke about these issues and the accidents that can be prevented in works of infrastructure.

The 10 golden rules cover specific prevention points, in the following areas: skills, confined spaces, electricity, energy sources, excavation work, hazardous substances, lifting loads, liquid accumulation, road safety and working at heights. The main objective of these golden rules is prevention through training and planning, to meet Goal Zero accidents.

At the end of the talk, as a symbolic sign of the commitment toward the Goal Zero of workers in the works, a signal cone was signed and will remain visible on the site until the work is finished.

INFRAIGSS includes the design of the Hospital Complex of Zone 11 and the Hospital Arrivillaga in Zone 5 of the capital city, the design and construction of the Hospital Regional de Oriente in Zacapa (with 203 beds) and the High Complexity Hospital (with 300 beds) in Zone 11 of the capital city, equipping these hospitals with state-of-the-art medical supplies and adequate furniture; acquiring ambulances; and modernizing the technology infrastructure in order to expand and improve IGSS coverage and attention to its rights-holders.

These actions fall within the framework of Sustainable Development Goal 3, Health and Welfare; SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; and SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities.