Ridge Hospital Assault: Labour Minister assures Parliament of comprehensive review of workplace safety
The Minister of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Dr Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo, has assured Parliament that the ministry is undertaking a comprehensive review of workplace safety mechanisms following the assault of a nurse at the Ridge Hospital.
Appearing before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last Thursday during its consideration of the 2024 Auditor-General’s report on Ministries, Departments and Agencies, he said the incident underscored the urgent need for stronger safeguards for frontline workers, particularly those in public-facing institutions such as hospitals.
“One of the key things we do in the ministry is to ensure that we have a stable, healthy workforce in this country. It is part of the law binding our functional duty to the people of Ghana,” Dr Pelpuo said.
The minister’s remarks were in response to a public interest question from the Committee Chairperson, Abena Osei-Asare, on reports that a nurse at Ridge Hospital was manhandled by members of the public, leading to injuries.
Collaboration
Dr Pelpuo, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wa Central, said the ministry, in collaboration with the Labour Commission, would strengthen existing mechanisms to ensure a safer working environment for employees across the country.
“We have the Labour Commission, which has all the duties of ensuring that single issues like these are handled effectively. So, I have called a meeting with them, and they will look at it more comprehensively and advise on what is next. They will need to strengthen their own capacity to make sure the whole country is covered,” he explained.
Regional offices
The minister disclosed that the commission had recommended the establishment of regional offices to provide nationwide oversight and rapid response to such incidents.
That, Dr Pelpuo explained, would help ensure that workers’ safety concerns were promptly addressed and not left unattended due to administrative bottlenecks in Accra.
Dr Pelpuo emphasised that safeguarding employees, particularly those in high-risk and public-interaction environments, was critical to maintaining a productive workforce.
“The Labour Commission has requested that it will be of great importance if we can have regional offices which will look at it comprehensively throughout the country so that situations don’t get out of hand,” he added.
Audit report
Beyond the safety issue, the PAC session also reviewed financial irregularities flagged by the Auditor-General’s report.
The committee had queried the ministry over uncollected revenues amounting to GH¢77,306.00, which auditors recommended to be recovered and lodged into the Auditor-General’s recovery account.
Responding, officials of the Labour Department explained that the full amount had since been recovered and deposited into the ministry’s revenue holding account.
The Chief Labour Officer assured the committee that additional amounts had also been collected, and measures were being instituted to prevent future delays in revenue reconciliation.
Those measures, he said, included monthly, quarterly, and annual reconciliation templates, as well as the integration of IT systems such as the government’s GIFMIS platform, with plans to adopt enterprise-level monitoring tools for better transparency.
