BPS wants government to pass Occupational Safety and Health Bill

As the world celebrates the World Day for Safety and Health at work, the Bureau of Public Safety is calling on the government to pass the Bill on Occupational Safety and Health.

In a statement issued to commemorate the day, the Bureau says this will “empower all stakeholders at the workplace to pursue a comprehensive wellbeing program that will ultimately build capacity at the enterprise level to support Government efforts in crisis situations such as disasters and pandemics in future”.

“Workplaces are effective platforms where employers and workers, together, can disseminate information and sensitize on Occupational Safety and Health (ILO, C. 155, Act. 19). The perennial call for the passage of the Bill on Occupational Safety and Health is even more relevant today than it was years back. We, therefore, reiterate the call on Government to pass this bill as government’s contribution to decent work which is essentially a human right issue globally,” the statement read.

Amidst the spread of the novel coronavirus, the Bureau of Public Safety is also asking the “government through the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to engage stakeholders to enforce the development, implementation and maintenance of a COVID-19 Confidentiality and Job Security Policy.”

“This policy should enable employer testing of employees for the virus, and protect the identity and job security of workers who get infected with the virus, and are lucky to recover to return to work.”

Workers unions must also come up with programs to address the practice of stigmatizing people infected with the disease, and also address “possible mental health and social consequences that the pandemic may have on workers”, according to the Bureau.

Occupational Health and Safety Bill

In 2017, the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, indicated that his Ministry was developing an Occupational Health and Safety Bill which when passed, will establish an authority to regulate occupational health and safety issues at workplaces and public spaces.

According to him, health and safety issues are virtually relegated to the fringes at workplaces especially the informal sector and residential areas, leaving indelible cost when they occur.

Speaking at the third edition of the Extractive Industry Safety conference organized by the Sekondi Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he stated that the practise costs the country several millions of Ghana cedis in workplace compensations.

Reports indicated that Parliament was set to pass the Bill into law by the end of 2019. However, that has not been done yet.

World Day for Safety and Health at Work

World Day for Safety and Health at Work is a day set aside by the International Labour Organization (ILO) to promote the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases globally.

This year’s event is themed, ‘Stop the pandemic: Safety and health at work can save lives’.

According to the United Nations, this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, in particular, on the COVID-19 pandemic.

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