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INTRODUCTION

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY LEGISLATION AND WORKER PROTECTION IN GHANA – THE CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD. INTRODUCTION.

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INTRODUCTION

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  1. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY LEGISLATION AND WORKER PROTECTION IN GHANA – THE CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

  2. INTRODUCTION Every human activity is fraught with hazards and associated risks. Eating, which is considered a pleasurable and necessary activity, may result in injury to the person. Occupational health , safety and welfare aims at providing protection for workers. Employers have a moral responsibility of protecting the safety and health of their worker. Inability can result in losses to the organisation.

  3. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION The right of the worker to work under safe and healthy conditions in Ghana is guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution. Article 24, which falls under the Human Rights Provisions, provides, inter alia, that “Every person has the right to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions”. The Constitution further provides that “The State shall safeguard the health, safety and welfare of all persons in employment (Article 36(10)).

  4. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION Unfortunately laws and regulations put in place to ensure this protection are in most cases ineffective and lack effective implementation strategies to ensure occupiers’ compliance.

  5. EXISITING LEGISLATION Current laws/regulations include the Factories, Offices and Shops Act, 1970, (ACT 328), the Mining Regulations, 1970, (LI 665), the Radiation Protection Instrument, 1993, (LI 1559), the Labour Act 2003 (ACT 651) and the Workmen’s Compensation Act 1987 (PNDC 187). Speech will cover the FOSA, which is assumed to provide for the safety and health protection of the general worker population

  6. THE FOSA The Factories, Offices and Shops Act 1970 (FOSA), which is assumed to the primary legislation to provide safety, health protection and welfare provision for workers in the country, does not cover all economic activities.

  7. The Challenges The FOSA is prescriptive in nature and, unlike the ‘duty of care’ type legislation does not encourage the employer to go beyond the legislative requirements Aspects of the FOSA are ambiguous. Enforcement is inadequate due to lack of resources – both human and material resources – to enable any enforcement activities to be performed by the Dept. of Factories Inspectorate

  8. The Challenges The Inspector has the right to enter any factory, office or shop at any time, both day and night, in so far as people are working therein, he cannot stop any process or prohibit the use of any material, which in his/professional judgement poses danger to the safety or health of the worker. Current inspection practices do not encourage collaboration between the Inspectorate and occupiers.

  9. The Challenges The role of prosecution of persons who breach provisions of the any OSH legislation is to serve as a deterrent to the offender as well as to others. Cases prosecuted in our courts could last for more than three years. Current penalties do not serve the intended purpose of preventing such offences in the future.

  10. The Challenges Accident/Incident reporting provides opportunity for the accident to be investigated to determine the contributory factors and to make recommendation to prevent a recurrence. Unfortunately these occurrences are reported to the enforcement agency well after the accident scene has been disturbed. The provisions of the FOSA and the Labour Act are very much in disagreement.

  11. The Challenges The duties of the employer as provided for under section 118 of the Labour Act requires a risk assessment of all works to be undertaken by the employer. This would have provided opportunity for the employer to determine the risk levels and to take appropriate measures that will reduce those risks considered to be unacceptable to acceptable levels. This encourages a systems approach to OSH management in the country.

  12. WHAT CAN BE DONE The following suggestions have been made for the consideration of the government. As stated earlier, government has the responsibility of ensuring that the safety and health of persons at work are protected.

  13. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS Changes in the law that will ensure current legislative formats. The envisaged law should conform to current international practice of the employer taking steps to proactively protect the health, safety and welfare of the worker. Ambiguities in the current laws should be avoided. The laws should cover the self employed.

  14. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS The competency of staff of the enforcement agency should be enhanced. Considering the complexities of the present workplaces in Ghana, the Inspector should be provided with opportunities to develop professionally. Scholarships should be provided for both professional and academic qualification training. Further improvement in condition of service will attract and retain highly qualified staff.

  15. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS The training of our Inspectors should be considered as very urgent. Occupational safety and health is a multi-disciplinary field requiring inputs from many disciplines. The Inspector will be able to perform his/her role effectively if he/she has the necessary training.

  16. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS Present inspectionprocedures that seem to police the occupier should be abandoned and a much more cooperative attitude adopted by the enforcement agency. It should be possible to collaborate in a manner that makes it easier for the employer or workers to approach the enforcement agency to provide guidance in complying with the provisions of any existing OSH laws.

  17. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS Enforcement agency should periodically provide training to both employers and workers in the proper management of the risks associated with their operations. The current practice doES not portray to the employer the real benefits of good safety and health practices.

  18. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS The serious lack of guidance to the employers and the employees should be halted with the enforcement agency coming out with: - Guidance notes and Codes of Practices that will assist employers and employees to deal with particularly identified workplace risks The development and distribution of training materials could be a source of income to the enforcement agency

  19. SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS Solutions to workplace hazards and associated risks are often foreign based and do not reflect the Ghanaian situation. Localresearch in the area of safety and health should be encouraged through adequate funding. This will ensure the provision of local solutions to local OSH problems.

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