Notwithstanding the dangers associated with working with electricity, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) says it has not experienced any fatality this year.

According to the Managing Director of ECG, Ing Samuel Boakye Appiah, “out of a total of 10 accidents recorded for the year, no fatality has been recorded”.

He associated the situation to world-class safety standards employed by the company to ensure that both staff and the public do not get injured or die from their encounter with electricity.

Mr. Appiah made the announcement in Ho when the company launched its 5th National Safety, Health and Environment Week Celebration for 2018. This year’s celebration was under the theme: “Workplace Stress: Let’s Manage It”.

Stress can kill

He said although the company has put in measures to ensure a comfortable work environment to deal with stress and other health-related problems, staff should also put in some personal safety measures to reduce the negative effects of stress which include accidents and even death.

Mr. Appiah said although stress can serve as an alert to rest and take a break from all strenuous activities for rejuvenation, it can also become negative when badly managed. He said irrespective of the source of stress, it definitely has a direct impact on performance and productivity.

“Some workplace stress is normal, but excessive stress can interfere with performance and productivity, and impact negatively on physical and emotional health. Almost anything can cause stress – bereavement, financial matters, lack of time or poor time management, divorce, and even retirement” he disclosed.

Since the lives of workers and desires of customers are important to the company, ECG has put in place policies and procedures that comprehensively address health and safety needs and maintain the best state of physical, mental and social wellbeing of its employees.

ECG Privatization and Stress

Ing Boakye Appiah observed that although the ongoing private sector participation in ECG could lead to some stress, staff must ensure good balance of workload and social life, while they take advantage of the resource centres being set up to address such concerns.

The General Manager ECG Volta Region, Ing. Delali Oklu, stressed that “whilst we continue to impress upon staff to observe all safety rules at the workplace, we also need to educate the general public to exercise a great deal of caution near our installations.”

He also advised the public to report abnormalities on their installations to the nearest ECG office for prompt redress.