The Training School of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has been holding one-day training programs for ECG electrical contractors as part of ECG’s drive for safety adherence on all its operational installations.
The second session in the series planned for this year was held on July 6, 2023, at the ECG Training Centre in Tema.
These contractors, who mainly work as third-party contractors of the company, perform various works on behalf of ECG.
The training was necessitated in a bid to bring them up-to-date with ECG’s practices and adherence to operational and safety protocols.
Speaking on the training, Dr. George Eduful, the lead facilitator and a General Manager of ECG’s Energy Consulting and Telco Business Directorate, said that “it has become necessary for the company to take measures to ensure that its power distribution infrastructure is designed to standards and presents no danger to the technical staff and contractors.” He added that “electrical contractors engaged by ECG need to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in the field, while ensuring they are adhering to regulations for safe installations.”
The ECG Director of the Training Centre, Ing. Aheng Owusu-Afriyie, spoke about the aim of the training centre to provide competent and practical knowledge while ensuring that safety remains paramount for all practitioners. He indicated that the training centre provides training for a number of different reasons and needs, mainly in technical issues.
Ing. Owusu-Afriyie led journalists on a tour of the Training Centre, where he spoke about the various installations at the centre, and how they have been intentionally done to mimic field installations. He said that “trainees who come here are taken through vigorous sessions such that once they get to the field, they will be abreast with relevant skills to handle situations.”
The tour covered a substation and what is known as Lifeline. Explaining this, Ing. Owusu-Afriyie said that the Lifeline basically means that when faults occur on the network, customers will not have to suffer an outage while the repair works go on. Instead, the power supply will be on and the technical staff will be working on it, ensuring that customers do not go without power.
The ECG Training Centre provides technical training and support for a number of players in the nation’s energy sector, including others from the West African sub-region.
The President of the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association, Mr. Awal Sakib Muhammed, spoke positively about the training, adding that it is meant to ensure that the practice remains sanitized in order to curtail incidents of possible accidents. He praised the ECG management for leading this training program.
He also cautioned the public to desist from buying electrical cables from sources they are not sure of and to buy from trusted sources only.
He added that substandard cables can cause fires, leading to possible loss of life and property.
