Occupational Health and Safety Practices: An Assessment of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Ho Division

Abstract

Providing a safe place of work has been a common law duty of organisations, especially, the potentially dangerous work environments. This mandates organisations to implement Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) practices which could prevent or control hazards at the workplace. The study of OHS practices in an electricity distributing organisation is crucial because electricity poses danger such as fatal electrocution of workers. This study is aimed at identifying the OHS practices in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), assessing how OHS practices are implemented, and their perceived effects on the company. Using a descriptive survey strategy, 120 respondents from the Ho Regional Division of ECG were conveniently sampled. The findings indicated that OHS practices implemented were either centralised to the regional safety officer or decentralised to the supervisors. There was however, no well-designed institutional framework for the implementation of OHS practices. This led to an average rating of the perceived effects of OHS practices on the company. The originality of the study is focused on the empirical investigation of the practices in a typical engineering company other than mining in a developing country context. The implication of this study is that engineering companies should focus on OHS issues.