The Executive Director of the Bureau of Public Safety, Nana Yaw Akwada, has urged the government to pass an occupational safety and health bill after over two decades of delay.
His comment comes on the back of the accident in Bogoso over the weekend, which saw a truck dislodged timber on nearby cars while navigating a curve, according to reports.
The situation led to the death of one, while several others were taken to the Bogoso Health facility to receive treatment for injuries sustained.
Speaking to Citi News on the matter, Nana Yaw Akwada blamed the Forestry Commission for the accident while lamenting that public officeholders are reneging on their responsibilities.
He said the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Bill would have ensured that the Forestry Commission conduct due diligence before dispatching the timber-loaded truck. He additionally stressed that the passage of the bill will make issues on safety a priority.
“We have no reason as a people that for nearly or over two decades, we have been calling for a policy on safety and health in this country. It hasn’t materialized. If we had a policy on safety and health in this country, it was going to rope in the Forestry Commission. They were not going to dispatch vehicles from their premises without proper attention to safety and the consequences of transporting these goods. But as it stands, every space is doing whatever they like and the industry is literally neglecting safety and is cutting across occupational safety and now we are beginning to have public safety implications of our lack of passing one single policy that will help us to solve some of these problems. I am talking about the occupational safety and health policy and the adjoining bill, which has been dancing seashore from Ministry to Cabinet over two decades,” he said.
