Mr. Antwi Bosiako-Sekyere, Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, on Friday called for investment in the human resource base of the country to enhance development.
He noted that the human resource base of every nation was its greatest asset that must be protected jealously.
Mr. Bosiako-sekyere said this at a day’s consultative forum on the draft national occupational safety and health policy, in Takoradi in the Western Region.
He said that “the situation in which we wait for workplace disasters to happen before we inspect facilities must stop” adding that “Occupational safety must be taken seriously.”
Mr. Bosiako-Sekyere said the safety of workers was paramount to the development of the country, and called on businesses to invest in the safety and well-being of their workforce.
Mr. Paul Evans Aidoo, Western Regional Minister, noted that millions of people around the world were employed in conditions that deprived them of dignity and value.
He said it was estimated that workers suffer 370 million accidents every year, with 2.5 million fatalities and 160 million cases of occupational diseases worldwide.
Mr. Aidoo noted that the economic losses were equivalent to four per cent of the world’s Gross National Product in terms of shattered families and communities.
He said that the fragmented way of handling occupational safety and health had led to overlaps and confusion in enforcement of laws, which invariably resulted in anger and tension among officials and employers and in some cases employees alike.**
