Estate managers attend fire safety workshop
A fire safety and management workshop has been held for estate managers in institutions and agencies as part of efforts to build their capacity for fire prevention.
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It also comes in the wake of the recent fire outbreaks nationwide, with about 160 fires being recorded in the first two months.
The workshop, organised by the Deputy Chief Fire Officer (DCFO) of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Mr Michael Yarkuah, was to enlighten participants on the response to fire outbreak at the initial stage.
About 30 participants from 20 institutions and 10 estate managers attended the workshop.
Awareness creation
Mr Yarkuah said the recent fire outbreaks in the country and some institutions had prompted the service to intensify and educated estate managers of institutions on the need to respond to fire outbreaks at the preliminary stage.
He expressed worry about the upsurge of disasters, the latest being the Central Medical Stores fire in Tema and the Tamale Teaching Hospital.
He said the only way to ensure safety at work from a fire outbreak was to install effective fire systems to alert at the onset of any fire outbreak.
Estate managers for institutions and agencies, according to Mr Yarkuah, had to ensure that they equipped their facilities with the appropriate fire safety equipment.
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“When you make people responsible for a particular duty, they will deliver as expected,” he added.
Recommendation
Mr Yarkuah expressed concern about some institutions not complying with the directives of the fire service.
He said the Fire Service over the years had made some recommendations to 34 commercial organisations, institutions and governmental agencies on fire safety.
Some of the recommendation included management of these organisations ensuring that fire hydrants were provided to facilitate firefighting; that hole wheels should be connected to taps to allow water to be drawn in fighting fire, among several other recommendations.
He said only five institutions had complied with the directives of the GNFS and that was not impressive.
He gave an assurance that the Fire Service was always willing and ready to assist anytime they were called on, but insisted that it was important to cultivate a culture of safety, adding that it was the only way the rate of fire outbreaks would abate.
He said the Fire Service would also train estate managers to ensure that there were no fire outbreaks.
Other perspective
The Estate Officer of Ministry of Lands and Natural Resource, Ms Belinda Bediako Aseidu, said the ministry had placed safety notices at the offices and major walkways to inform workers to turn off all electrical gadgets after working hours.
For his part, the House Engineer of the Ministry of Petroleum, Mr Fatawu Issah, said the ministry started with some of the recommendations of the GNFS last year and a committee had been set up to ensure that the directives were been implemented in order to prevent any fire outbreak.