NEW REGULATION SOON FOR GAS STATION WORKERS

GOVERNMENT has indicated its intention of implementing a new regulation allowing gas station workers to have a free annual medical check.
Speaking in the Lower House on Tuesday while leading off the debate on the Safety and Health at Work (Amendment) Bill, 2022, Labour Minister Colin Jordan revealed these employees will benefit from a new regulation – the Fuel Stations Medical Supervision – in recognition of the potential hazards of working daily with petrol.
“Those of us who are privileged enough to go to the petrol station to put in gas, sometimes speak about the smell. Sometimes speak to feeling nauseous. Sometimes ask ‘I wonder what they put in this?’ Sometimes wonder if the attendant has spilled some of the gas outside of the tank and we are aware of how strong it smells and we are aware of how we feel after inhalation. There are some studies that indicate that prolonged exposure could cause challenges... I cannot say to you, Mr. Speaker, that the evidence is conclusive. It may be or it may not be for some, but there is that feeling in the scientific community, that there could be that there are harmful effects to prolonged exposure, and so Mr. Speaker, having heard the petrol station attendants, this Government will be putting into force a Fuel Stations Medical Supervision regulation that will require periodic medical examinations for those who work in fuel stations,” he said.
Jordan noted that through this directive, employees working whether at petrol or fuel stations or in the transportation of fuel will be allowed to have their blood, urine and liver function tested annually free of cost. “We are saying to all operators of fuel stations, petrol stations, also places where bulk fuel is moved from one place to another, or one storage area to another, so we call it fuel stations as opposed to petrol stations, that there will be a
requirement that at no cost to the worker, there will be these annual medical examinations. We have to make sure that the human beings in this country who work are protected,” he added. (JMB)