OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND
SAFETY LEGISLATION AND
WORKER PROTECTION IN
GHANA – THE CHALLENGES AND
THE WAY FORWARD
2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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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)).
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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.
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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
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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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
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
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.
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2nd Biennial National Safety Conference, 2013
SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS
• Present inspection procedures 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.
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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.
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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
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SUGGGESTED SOLUTIONS
• Solutions to workplace hazards and associated
risks are often foreign based and do not
reflect the Ghanaian situation. Local research
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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