He noted that the methods for resource discovery, extraction and processing were risky and charged mining companies to strictly comply with occupational safety and health standards and made it part of their performance indicators to safeguard lives of mine workers.

He said occupational safety and health issues at the workplace must be observed as a way of life because occupational and health hazards are largely unpredictable. The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Global Estimate of Occupational Accident and Work Related  Index, 2017, says 2.3 million workers worldwide fell victim to work related accidents and diseases annually, while Africa recorded over seven million cases of work related accidents in 2014, with fatality rate pegged at 17.69 per cent per every 100,000 workers.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh gave the advice in a speech read on his behalf at the opening of the maiden Africa Conference on Occupational Health and Safety in Accra. The three-day event was on the theme, ”Safe and Healthy Work Culture for Sustainable Development”, attracted participants from Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia as well as labour experts across the globe to discuss occupational safety of workers and help shape policy interventions.

Mr Asomah-Cheremeh said the Government’s policy was to ensure mining companies operating in the country conducted their activities in a manner that protect the physical environment, the workers and the public through strict compliance to relevant environmental, health and safety laws and regulations.

In view of that, he said government had been working closely with the mining companies in observing the annual National Inter-Mines First Aid and Safety competition, which aimed at testing the readiness of the miners and community volunteers in safeguarding and handling accidents.

“I would like to urge mining companies not only to continue to uphold occupational safety and health issues in their operations, but to make them part of their performance indicators,” Mr Asomah-Cheremeh advised.

Meanwhile, Mr George Poku, the Managing Director of GEP Consultancy Limited, in an interview with the GNA said the company was established five years ago with the primary goal to ensure occupational safety and health at the workplace.

He believed that about 70 per cent of workplace accidents could easily be avoided with suitable management, training and advisory services from qualified consultancy services. Mr Poku said the Company was making frantic efforts to partner other Ghanaian companies so that it could offer occupational safety and health advisory services to them.

“We conduct surveys at the workplace, provide training, field safety, construction and health safety management, working at high technique and so many aspects of risk and make sure companies in Ghana understand the hazards associated with asbestos,” Mr Poku stated.