Steel worker loses jaw in industrial accident

Thomas Baffie, a 27-year-old man, was fortunate to have survived an industrial accident which cut his jaw off at the Tema Steel Company Limited.

He underwent an emergency treatment at the Tema General Hospital before been referred to the Korle- Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra after he sustained the injury at the steel manufacturing firm in the Heavy Industrial Area, Tema.

Thomas suffered bleeding on his neck, his jaw removed in the process, when a jaw plate he was shaping with a grinding disk machine for a smooth level blasted to cause the serious injury to his body at the Foundry Department.

The accident was alleged to have occurred as a result of over speeding of the motor in the grinding machine than the normal speed required hence the blasting of the jaw plate, spreading to cause injury to the vic­tim's body and other properties in the factory at about 7:40 am, last Wednesday.

Reliable information from the fac­tory available to the newspaper alleged that the company had breached safety and health laws, for failing to provide a facial mask to the victim which could have prevented him from sustaining such an injury.

Now unable to work, the father two is still suffering from other injuries and must do everything to undergo a further medical treatment.

Some of his relatives disclosed that "he doesn't remember anything about the actual accident but only remembers before and afterwards when he was on a stretcher in an ambulance from the factory to the hospital."

The sources further commended the surgeons and staff at the Korle- Bu Hospital for their fantastic job done on Thomas, who is the bread­winner of his family.

Workers at the Tema Steel have, therefore, appealed to the management of the factory to carry out a suitable risk assessment and develop safe procedures for maintenance activity in order to avert any future disaster.