The Min­istry of Labour has launched an in­ves­ti­ga­tion in­to the death of san­i­ta­tion work­er De­shawn Joseph, who was killed while on du­ty in Kel­ly Vil­lage last week.

In a state­ment, Labour Min­is­ter Leroy Bap­tiste said the Oc­cu­pa­tion­al Safe­ty and Health Agency (OS­HA) has be­gun in­ves­ti­gat­ing the in­ci­dent, which oc­curred around 9.15 pm on May 26 dur­ing garbage col­lec­tion in Kel­ly Vil­lage, Ca­roni.

Bap­tiste ex­pressed con­do­lences to Joseph's fam­i­ly and said the cir­cum­stances sur­round­ing the in­ci­dent had gen­er­at­ed sig­nif­i­cant pub­lic con­cern. He said OS­HA, which falls un­der the min­istry's re­mit, was car­ry­ing out in­quiries in ac­cor­dance with its statu­to­ry re­spon­si­bil­i­ties un­der the Oc­cu­pa­tion­al Safe­ty and Health Act.