Employment Minister lauds Banana Producers Association for OSH measures

Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, has commended the Banana Producers Association of Ghana for introducing an Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) manual to safeguard workers on their farmlands.

He made the commendation when he launched the OSH Initiative Manual in Accra, a statement from the Ministry to the Ghana News Agency said.

According to the statement, the Minister said, the manual, which comes in three parts aimed at reducing occupational injury and accidents on farms to save lives and properties.

He challenged other plantation associations such as Palm Oil, Rubber, Pineapple and Cocoa to adopt similar Health and Safety practices for the welfare of their workers to ensure that their farms were accident-free.

According to the statement, the Minister expressed optimism that the manual would be put to effective use through regular application and reference by plantation owners, other unions and workers to reduce occupational accidents on the farm to the barest minimum.

Mr Awuah also used the platform to announce that the Ministry had submitted a reviewed Occupational Health and Safety bill to Cabinet, which would soon be passed into law to regulate OSH in the country.

He also commended the Banana Producing Companies for employing more than 5,000 permanent workers, certified by Fairtrade, the statement noted.

Being fairtrade certified, he explained, meant the banana producing companies supported the areas in which they operate with social investment in education, health and water systems.

“They are therefore alive to their corporate social responsibilities and must be commended for that,” he added.

The statement said Mr Awuah extended appreciation to the Industrial and Commercial Workers Union, the General Agricultural Workers Union, the International Union of Food Workers, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Sustainable Trade Initiative of the Dutch Government and the UK based NGO, ‘Banana Link' for their cooperation in developing the manual.