The Workers’ Safety Bill — Are we compliance-ready?

The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) draft policy designed to safeguard workers from accidents and deaths is currently before Cabinet for onward submission to Parliament (i.e. according to the Graphic Business, May 24, 2016). 

This news was sweet music to my ears as it was a worry in my sleep! Sweet music in my ears because it was going to make it legally more binding on employers to ensure that workers are compulsorily protected and compensated in the event of any work related accident, injury or death. A worry in my sleep because many Ghanaian workers would not adhere to safety standards, I opine based on observations and our general attitude.

The story of Sammy

I used to offer lift to Sammy who was working in a factory owned and managed by expatriates; Sammy worked in the warehouse. For over two weeks at some point, I was no longer seeing Sammy at where I used to pick him. I finally bumped into Sammy limping with a clutch. Asked what happened, Sammy narrated how he was working in the factory and a metal object fell from a height and injured his right foot – cutting the top open amidst profuse bleeding. His employers gave him only GHC30.00 at the initial first aid and subsequently told him they could no longer work with him because of his self-induced condition. Indeed, I concluded that the employers have not acted right by not taking full care of him and at the same time laying him off as he was a casual employee.

I later met a colleague of Sammy’s and as we discussed Sammy’s predicament, he indicated that Sammy was one of the few stubborn employees who ‘believed in themselves’ and would refuse to wear their safety boots anytime they were working. In fact prior to this incident, Sammy had a verbal exchange with his immediate supervisor when the latter insisted he wore his safety apparel and this nearly culminated into an altercation. 

The Ghanaian Worker and Safety Consciousness

Like the story of Sammy, I have witnessed many Ghanaian workers in factories and other dangerous work environments with no protective gears on. As to whether they knew the dangers associated with their work or not they would often boast of how long they have ‘done this’ and therefore expect nothing untoward to happen to them. 

Readers will recall that sometime in 2014 a related story was telecast on television about some road construction workers, around the Burma Camp area, whose working gears (i.e. safety boots, helmets, etc) were torn and crying for replacement. In the same story, we were also told that a crane had earlier crashed a worker to death, while performing his duties. 

When an expatriate Project Supervisor was interviewed by newsmen, he lamented that the workers have a habit of not wanting to wear their protective gears even when they were provided with the very essential ones. 

It is easy to draw conclusions from afar, that it is either some employers are taking their employees for granted or just exploiting their ignorance or the inclination of bemusement as to why many employees are reluctant to use their protective apparel, and whether these employees are aware that their employers are required by some Law to provide them with a workmen’s compensation insurance policy.

The Workmen’s Compensation Act

The Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1987 (PNDCL 187), Section 1, states as follows: “This Act applies to employees employed by the Republic as well as private persons, except in the case of the Armed Forces.”

 In Section 2, of the same Act, it states that “Where an employee sustains personal injury by accident arising out of, and in the course of employment, the employer is liable, subject to this Act, to pay compensation in accordance with this Act.”

What does the Workmen’s Compensation Insurance Do?

The Workmen’s Compensation insurance policy provides indemnity for the employer against its legal liability for injuries to its employees resulting from accidents and / or death occurring in the course of their employment. 

It is mandatory for all employers of labour to set aside funds to compensate any employee who may sustain injury and / or die at the workplace, whether or not the Employer is to blame, as clearly stipulated under The Workmen's Compensation Act, 1987.  

Employers pay the premiums for this type of insurance, and shall not require the employee to contribute to the cost of compensation. 

Normally with the Workmen’s Compensation insurance package, claims are paid based on the insured amount and the degree of incapacitation with the final computation done at the Labour Office. This typically applies to workers in the course of work-related activities. Most insurers, however, have designed Group Life Policies to include a Group Personal Accident (GPA) on a 24-hour basis, critical illness as well as Workmen’s Compensation Cover.

Premiums and Benefits

With recent developments and current practices in Ghana, employers should be mindful of the need to provide this policy to cover all their employees since the premiums are usually a negligible percentage of the insured amount. The cover levels include an employee’s annual salary / wages or multiples of that or an agreed fixed level of cover. For example an employer may settle on a cover of GHC20,000, payable to an employee, in the event of death or total permanent disability leading to incapacitation resulting from an accident.  

With this, the employees feel secured at all times while working for the company. 

The Bill and Responsibility of Employers

Most employers, to the best of my knowledge, are fully aware of the compulsory insurance cover for their employees, but some of them play on the ignorance of these employees and do not provide it all in the bid to cut down cost. Employers should be wary and note that they may be penny-wise today but risk being pound f------ since such costs / damages could actually be detrimental to them, in the event of just one legitimate suit against them by an affected employee or his / her next of kin. This is the reason I am personally excited by the bill to cabinet.

The Bill and Responsibility of Employees 

The employees themselves must be interested in what type of protection / compensation is there for them. Surprisingly, some operations staff in some of the highly hazardous work environments such as the breweries, printing presses, and construction firms for whatever reason(s), refuse to adhere to safety standards, thinking that, in the Ghanaian parlance ‘they are doing somebody else’. 

The Way Forward

Most of us know about the need to protect ourselves and its purposeful requirement, but remain silent on compliance until we hear of accidents at the workplaces, with sad records of injuries and/or deaths. I therefore wish to propose the following, when the bill is passed into Law:

Law Enforcement

The enforcement of the law to provide insurance cover for all workers must be a collective responsibility. The employer, the employee, Trades Unions, the Labour Department and of course the Factories Inspectorate Division (FID) which has been mandated to inspect factories, shops and offices with the aim of safeguarding the health, welfare and safety of persons employed within or around the premises and issue licenses for the operation of business in such premises) all have a role to play. 

Intensive campaign 

The various stakeholders particularly the law enforcement agencies can collaborate with the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA) in order to intensify their campaigns in this regard so that while employees are financially protected, their employers are also secured leading to adequate risk management benefits and a marked increase in insurance premiums for overall national development. It is my fervent hope that the Bill would also take care of one-off engagements of artisans such as masons and carpenters!  

Till next week, “This is insurance from the eyes of my mind”.