New Occupational Health & Safety policy in Dec
A new National Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policy will be in place by December this year.
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Under the new policy, a National OHS Authority is expected to be established to co-ordinate all issues relating to occupational health and safety in the country.
The authority, which will serve as the overarching agency of all institutions and agencies in occupational health and safety at the work place, would also have the power of sanctions and ensure standards in the work environment.
The policy would cover OHS in work environments both in the formal and informal sector.
Review meeting
These came to light at the new draft policy review meeting by the social partners, namely the Ghana Employers Association (GEA), the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR).
The draft policy was formulated as far back as 2007.
The review meeting was to capture emerging OHS that were not captured in the first draft and the fact that the initial policy was not in consonance with policy draft guidelines of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
The social partners are being supported by the BUSAC fund.
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Overview
At a media interaction on the draft National OHS Policy in Accra, an Assistant Director at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr Ernest Berko, gave an overview of the draft policy to journalists.
Highlights of the policy were the establishment of the OHS authority, its functions and the integration of all legislation on OHS.
The policy has the key objective of promoting safe and healthy working environments through the prevention of accidents and injuries, the protection of the livelihood of victims of occupational accidents and their dependents, the strengthening of OSH research and the adoption of cost effective technology, and the strengthening of policy implementation, monitoring and evaluation structures for effective implementation.
Interaction
Journalists wanted to know if the proposals in the new policy would not be a duplication of the functions of the Labour Department, whether employers at public work environments such as fuel stations had the responsibility of ensuring the safety of passers-by, and whether proposals for an OHS
Authority was not a multiplication of institutions without the requisite enforcement of standards already existing in work environments.
The Director of Research and Projects at the GEA, Mr Charles Asante-Bempong and the Desk Officer of Occupational Safety Health and Environment, Nana Owusu Boatey, took turns to respond to the issues raised.
Mr Bempong said as part of the new policy, the Factories, Offices and Shops Act 1970, Act 328 would be reviewed to align it with significant changes in the work environment over the years since its promulgation.
Nana Boatey said the proposed authority would have the requisite power to ensure compliance with safety standards in all formal and informal work environments so that a hawker of water in any of the market facilities would have the right to some standards of safety in his or her work environment.
Writer’s email: caroline.boateng@graphic.com.gh