WORKING UNDER SATISFACTORY, SAFE AND HEALTHY CONDITIONS.

Creating working conditions healthy and safe is in the interest of workers, employers and governments, as well as the public at large. And it does make certain that the worker remains fit and well whiles undertaking the task he/she is employed to perform.
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 160 million new cases of work related illnesses occur every year, and stipulates that workplace conditions account for over a third of back pain, 16% of hearing loss, nearly 10% of lung cancer; and that 8% of the burden of depression can be attributed to workplace risk.
We cannot modulate the relationship that supposed to exist among Health, working behaviour and the value of human capital, it’s clear that employee’s health status directly influences their work behaviour, work attendance and on-the-job performance.
To ensure working under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions, one needs to consider:
occupational health and safety defined by WHO/ILO (2000) as the “promotion and maintenance of the highest degree of physical, social and mental well-being of workers in all occupations”
Article 24 (1) of the 1992 constitution of Ghana, state; that every person has the right to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions.
Section 9 (C) of the labour Act, Act 2003, it is the duty of the employer to ensure that the worker is free from risk or any damage to health.
Again, Section 118 (1) of the Labour Act 2003, (Act 651) places a duty on the employer to ensure that every worker employed by him or her works under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions.
Factories, Offices And Shops Act 1970 (ACT 328)
The Workmen’s Compensation Law, 1987
Occupational safety and health is human right and decent work eventually is safe work (WHO, 2010)
Knowledge of occupational safety enhances healthy working practice and ensures safety of workers from occupational hazards. And this also places some kind of responsibilities on the employee. That is, when the employer has taken the process of performing his/her part.
Now, since gradually Ghana is becoming an industrialized nation, this change would expose a large percentage of the workforce to various health and safety hazards at the workplace. And we cannot under estimate that.
It is on records that workers are frequently exposed to chemical, biological, physical, and psychosocial occupational hazards, particularly among staff with limited practice of occupational health and safety. Exposure to occupational hazards among workers can result in psychic distress, work dissatisfaction, burnout syndrome, musculoskeletal diseases, needle stick injuries, infectious diseases, cancer, latex allergies, and violence and blur eye.
In recent years there has been growing realization that the workplace is a key factor in determining an individual’s health; after all, we spend almost one third of our entire adult life at work.
People in authority should ensure:
Prevention of harm from occupational hazards in our working environments
Providing and improving health service conditions.
Provision of available emergency care to workers at all levels.
Knowledge of occupational hazards safety practices are exposed to employees and
The practice of staff medical screening. And screening by definition, is a process of identifying apparently healthy people who may be at increased risk of a disease or condition.
Out of the screening, a medical data base on all the staff can be established such that those who have any chronic diseases could be monitored well. As well as those who are susceptible to any of such diseases can be identified earlier and advised. The goal of the assessment of the potential employee is to assess for any physical impairment such as injuries, weaknesses or medical problems that may put the worker at a greater risk of harm; and to advise the employer of ways to minimize these risks and prevent time off work through injury or illness.

Thanks
PATRICK NNURO-ADJAPONG
(PUBLIC HEALTH / OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY EXPERT)
0204044671 / 0544633210
nnuropatrick@yahoo.com