Business News of Thursday, 5 September 2019

Source: Rigworld

Florence Asibi Anyane emerges Ghana's first female IOSH Chartered member

Florence Asibi Anyane Florence Asibi Anyane

Chartered Members of IOSH (CMIOSH) are recognized within the health and safety profession as meeting the highest standards of skills and knowledge.

IOSH is the largest health and safety professional membership organization in the world and is also the only Chartered body for health and safety. Members at the highest levels can influence industry leaders and drive change within the profession. As the only organization in the world that offers Chartered membership in health and safety, IOSH members are internationally recognized and highly valued in occupational safety and health.

This field is one that is not mainly admired by women, especially within the morning and oil industries. It is, therefore, appreciating and heartwarming for managers and leaders of RigWorld International to have one of the very few women in the health and safety fields as a leading manager to be officially acknowledged as a chartered member of IOSH.

Florence Asibi Anyane is Lead HSE Training Manager at Rigworld Ghana to achieve this and the first female in the country to achieve this enviable title of Chartered Member of IOSH (CMIOSH).

She started her career as an HSE person from the mining sector with Newmont and Golden Star Resources. Her experience now spans into the construction and oil and gas industries alike.

"A few ladies started on this path with me but had to divert to other fields because of how it was perceived to be a male-dominated area. This am sure is what pushed me to even pursue a career in this field as a health and safety engineer. The passion to save lives in the filed from occupational risks gave me the strength to strive more in the practice.” She revealed.

Being a female safety officer in a mining company with contractors who were backfilling a mined pit was challenging as through the rains and hot sun she was found amongst men ensuring the right personal protective equipment were provided and work was done in line with the standard process. Florence joined Group 5 Construction at the Newmont Golden Ridge site at Akyem and was also another area she learned in construction safety.

Florence pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in HSE from GIMPA to enhance her knowledge in the field of HSE coming from an environmental background after which she joined IOSH as an affiliate member and proceed to complete the level 6 diploma in OHS from the British Safety Council.

With the increasing low number of females occupying the HSE industry in Ghana and the negative impact that has had on the society instead of being discouraged, Florence used that as a motivating factor to work hard to achieve this highest membership certification from IOSH in Ghana.

In her words, β€œthe journey to CMIOSH has not been easy but with the love and passion for the profession, I have been able to attain success to this level with the help and support from my supervisor and team Florence believes achieving anything is possible once you set your mind to it and take the initiative. She intends to occupy a more senior role in HSE such as an HSE director which will enable her to drive health and safety culture policy and cause positive change in the profession. Achieving the highest status of IOSH membership has been a great promotion and inspiration for Florence in the HSE profession.