A Focus Group Discussion on the State of Occupational Health and Safety in Ghana to commemorate the World Day for Health and Safety at Work 2021
Sunday 25 April 2021 | 7:30 PM GMT
A lot of road traffic accidents, a lot of unsafe behaviors, fires and explosions and too many confluence of factors hampering the state of occupational health and safety in Ghana.
On Sunday we had a focus group discussion to commemorate the Global Health and Safety Day marked on April 28. A group of professionals from the HSEQ Professionals Gh had a conversation on hot topics to establish what problems we face as a country and proposed solutions to improving OSH in Ghana.
The session hosted by SHEQPGHOnline on zoom, had Selorm Alfred Ametewee, an OSH Professional engaging with the following persons:
- Bismark Odame Ayisi
- Ebenezer Forson
- Henry Botwe
- Michael Koomson
- Sahadatu Ibrahim
- Foster Edem Tofoatsi
- Moses Weniamo Komodatam
- Cornelius Adablanu
- Akwasi Prempeh
There were a few members of the HSEQ Professionals Gh joining in. We saw the forum as a great step to reviving and rekindling the spirit of engagement and participation among Safety Professionals.
Key topics discussed on the theme: anticipate, prepare and respond to crisis through resilient systems were:
- The relevance of the World Health and Safety Day to us, as Safety Professionals, Organized Bodies and Ghana as a whole.
- The systems across industries and how health and safety is managed
- Key priority areas for improving health and safety in Ghana
- The lessons we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic to build a resilient system
- Other matters and Q&A from the audience
A number of solutions were proposed during the discussion. These include;
- Integrating the informal sector in the formal work setting
- Implementing a national strategy for occupational health and safety in Ghana
- Including health and safety in the educational curriculum to create safety leaders from all professions
- Overcoming apathy among Safety Professionals
The focus group agreed that the HSEQ Professionals Group needed an identity for the purpose of engagement with other bodies and to rally behind other groups to engage the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations on health and safety matters.
Posted by Selorm Alfred Ametewee.
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