The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has expressed its displeasure at parliament over what they have described as a delay in the passage of the occupational health safety bill into law.
The TUC says it will in the coming months’ mount pressure on the government and parliament to get the bill passed.
Head of occupational health and safety at the TUC, Nadia Abuga said this while speaking at an event to mark this year’s international memorial day for workers in Accra today, Thursday, April 28, 2022.
Madam Nadia Abuga challenged President Akufo-Addo to admonish parliament to expedite the passage of the bill just as they did for the controversial Electronic Transaction, Levy Bill.
To the TUC, it was unfortunate that the country does not any regulation for the system and the bill has been prepared and presented to parliament for passage.
”We want to appeal to the President of the Nation, His Excellency Nana Addo Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to urge Parliament to look at the bill and work on it just as the E-Levy was taken as an urgent issue. We have to save lives and to save lives, we have to regularize the industry”.
Madam Nadia Abuga said workers are prone to injuries and in some cases death, especially those in the construction industry hence the need for the bill to be passed to regulate activities.
She explained that the Ministry of Labour Relations, in collaboration with stakeholders in 2017, drafted the policy on occupational safety, but it has not seen the day of light.
She was not happy at the failure of parliament to work on the bill.
According to her, ”we need good systems in place to protect the living and also draw attention to the need to work in safe environments”.
On his part, the General Secretary of the Construction and Building Materials Association, Richard Asamoah pledged his organization’s support in mounting pressure on the government to have the bill passed.
He argued that the construction industry must be sanitised so people will enter and work under safe conditions and live in perfect health.
To him, it is not negotiable that construction is dangerous work, and there is a need for safety to be considered.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
