The management of Vodafone Ghana said on Wednesday it had introduced a fatality protection programme to protect its employees, partners, assigns and contractors from fatal accidents and
injuries while on the job.
A statement to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) from the Corporate Office of Vodafone said the company's health and safety standards known as "The Six Absolute Rules", were being implemented throughout all Vodafone operations in the country and with all third party contractors.
The statement named them as the constant "Wearing of Seatbelts, Wearing of Safety Harness and Fall Protection Equipment and the regulation that "No Staff Can Carry out Work on any Electrical Equipment, Circuits and Gears if they were not qualified to do so.
It indicated that under the rules, no employee or third party persons should be found working under the influence of alcohol or drugs which were in excess of legal levels. Excessive speeding and the use of hand-held mobile phones while driving were all prohibited.
"It is critical to the business to keep its employees alive as a corporate responsibility, hence the call on employees to wear seat belts at
all times, avoid driving under the influence of alcohol and not to exceed speed limits.
"The use of hand-held mobile phones is something of great concern to us especially considering the fact that we are a mobile network operator. We believe in the optimal use of our devices and will work to help eliminate or reduce fatalities that arise from the misuse of mobile phones."
"Even though applied directly to internal staff, it would be applicable to all assigns and contractors we do business with as a means of supporting our communities as a partner who is aware of the dangers to doing business recklessly", the statement said.
It noted that: "The Company believes that in view of this, over the next couple of weeks to months, Vodafone will stand out as leading a solid campaign to reduce accidents on the job while minimizing reckless driving on the nation's roads where statistics on road accidents are staggering."
The statement indicated that the use of seat belts, as a standard, holds the key to numerous avoidable deaths and stressed that Vodafone would not compromise on it.