Accra, March 01, GNA – 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 farm lands.
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.
GNA
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