Divisional Officer Grade I of the Ghana National Fire Service, Lilly Ashong Robertson has cautioned Ghanaians to avoid using mobile phones whilst cooking in the kitchen.
She said it is the surest way to prevaricate domestic fire outbreaks in the system. She stated that the radioactivity from phone calls just as has been prohibited at fuel filling station should be prohibited in the kitchen because it has the propensity to ignite fire through the gas cylinders.
Ms Ashong who is the Fire Commander of the Accra Metropolitan Fire station was speaking at the maiden Safety Week celebration of the Integrated Recycling and Compost Plant (IRECOP) in Accra. She said many of the fire outbreaks are due to negligence and disregard for safety precautions.
A Divisional Officer Grade II E. Osei Owusu who took workers and stakeholders of IRECOP through fire preventive and control measures expressed the need for all organizations and homes to install fire extinguishers at their premises and learn how to use when the need arises.
He gave the assurance that the National Fire Service is available in all regions and districts to train and assist people to keep safe from fire outbreaks. He advised that employees must always ensure that all main switches are put off when they sense fire outbreak.
DO II Osei Owusu cautioned workers of IRECOP who collect all sorts of waste to remember that those kinds of waste are supposed to be stored in different temperatures and since their facility collects various waste, store for a while before processing creates a threat of fire outbreak and that was the reason why the training was timely for the staff.
The General Manager of the Integrated Recycling and Composting Plant (IRECOP), Ms Betty Brown Nyadu stated that IRECOP begun operations in April this year has already recorded encouraging safety statistics.
She said the vision of IRECOP is to inculcate safety policies and procedures in all aspects of management decisions and to protect employees by arriving at an accident free work environment.
The purpose of the safety week was to further educate the employees on safety and to allow the workers to be audited to find out safety gaps and draw corrective measures to some of their operational standards and procedures she explained.
“In contemporary times, safety has moved from a voluntary option to an inevitable choice in management practice, thus-every manager should endeavour to take health and safety issues very critically to forestall the loss of lives and the payment of unnecessary claimsâ€.
Ms Nyadu said the Ghana Labour Act makes it mandatory for the employer to put premium on health and safety by minimizing hazards at the work place and as a manager to the facility that is a position she greatly share in.
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