The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) has launched a campaign to raise awareness on the importance to adhere to safety protocols in the petroleum downstream industry.
The campaign, which is one the theme “People Safety First” is also to educate the public on their role in preventing fires at all petroleum installations and other locations in the country.
Speaking at the launch in Accra, Chief Executive of the National Petroleum Authority, Mr Alhassan S Tampuli said since April this year, authority has undertaken a number of activities as part of the petroleum safety campaign.
The activities include; a breakfast meeting with CEOs of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and LPG marketing companies (LPGMCs) to brief them on the objectives and goals of the safety campaign, safety workshops for Transporters, BRV drivers (petroleum tanker drivers), OMCs and LPGMCs to raise their awareness on the need to operate safely.
He said statistics from the Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital shows a worrying trend, where between 35%-40% of all burns cases admitted at the center were caused by petroleum products since 2011.
The number, he said has been on the rise year after year. He noted that about 45% of deaths recorded at the center were caused by virtue of various degrees of burns resulting from petroleum, and gas related explosions suffered by the victims, which resulted in their untimely death.
“The Authority views this trend as horrifying and is intensely working to raise awareness on television, radio and various media outlets on safe ways of handling petroleum products to curb injuries and deaths from LPG, Petrol, Premix and other petroleum related fires.
“It is pertinent to know that some of the recent accidents in the country were caused by human factors such as, failure to observe basic safe operating procedures, lack of awareness and a complete lack of demonstrable knowledge in products handling.”
Mr Tampuli said following the unfortunate LPG explosion incident at the Atomic Junction, and in line with the directives by the President, the NPA has intensified its monitoring and inspection activities in collaboration with other agencies including the Ghana National Fire Service, Environmental Protection Agency, and Factories Inspectorate Department.
He urged the general public to adhere to the safety precautions being propagated, adding that safety was a shared responsibility. In a speech read on behalf of the Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko, the Deputy Minister of Energy, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam said one of the greatest challenges to the downstream petroleum industry was its inability to match the upstream industry in the area of safety and security.
He said in spite of the dangers of poor safety and regulatory regimes, regulators continue to allow special interests to undermine their enforcement of safety regulations and putting the lives and property of people on the line.
He therefore, encouraged industry players to take the bold step of formulating industry safety standards through industry associations and peer review.
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