Oct 19, 2024
The Maldives government published the first regulation on occupational health and safety since the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2/2024 came into effect early this year. The new regulation is an important step to making work environments safer in the Maldives and improve the dire existing reputation of the country where numerous lives have been lost over the years.
The regulation sets requirements for all types of businesses to have a safety policy and system in place to manage health and safety risks in accordance with the risk profile of the organization. Mechanisms need to be place for training staff on health and safety matters with respect to their work as well as internal audits and regular reviews by management.
The regulation also sets out the framework for assigning safety officers in businesses as well as requirements for how the state will investigate health and safety related incidents.
An important aspect of the regulation has been reserved for protection of workers and how they could seek damages from organizations if they were found guilty of health and safety violations and negligence and if it caused the loss of lives and injuries to workers.
The regulation will transform the economy and increase the reputation of Maldives as a safe working country and enable the support of worldwide bodies such as ILO as well as numerous funding agencies such as the World Bank increasing the Maldives potential for development.