The Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour is implementing policies for the safety of security officers and other workers to prevent exploitation by working long hours, however, it is challenged by the fact that some want to work longer.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, MC.I.L Chief Executive Officer, Pulotu Lyndon Chu Ling explained that many blame the employers for this, in some cases, it is the employee himself or herself who wishes to work extra hours because of extra pay.

"Those are all part of this program because this is not only on the safety but also conditions under the law," he said.

"Time is another challenge. You cannot work for 24 hours straight. You have to take a break and under the law, after the eight hours that we're supposed to work, then you should have a break but within that eight hours, you have a tea break and a lunch break and after eight hours, go home and rest and prepare for another eight hours.

"That's one of the vulnerable areas of work, especially for security officers but it's important that they have the strength.

"We finish our work at 5 pm, especially for the government but the securities start at that time and are awake the whole night but if they spend the whole night staying up then take another shift the next morning then they won't have enough strength."

Asked whether there was an investigation to discover whether the companies, especially security companies have breached any policies, Pulotu said 'it was not an investigation'.

"The Ministry continues to remind them and visit these employers or companies and all other employers but once an employee lodges a complaint to the Ministry about such matters then the Ministry will carry out its responsibilities," he added.

"No formal complaint yet but with this matter, it's important to listen to people's opinions and look into what they know then we remind them."

Meanwhile, there is no official complaint which has been lodged to the Ministry regarding this issue.

"A survey is carried out every month but there have been no such matters that we discovered officially. There is a belief that there are other workers who like that arrangement but we keep reminding them that there will be difficulties faced because they don't have enough strength and rest," he explained.

"So not only do we remind the employers but we also remind the employees but if there's no complaint given to us then it is assumed that everything is going well."

One of the many matters that concern the Ministry is accidents during working hours.

"Another thing that worries us is accidents happening during working hours. If you look through ACC and the hospital, there are heaps of people that get into health troubles (accidents) at their workplaces," he said.

Meanwhile, several attempts were made to seek comments from Top Security and KL Security, two of the biggest security companies in Samoa were unsuccessful.