EXPLOSION INJURED 13, MON, APRIL 25, 2011, DAILY GRAPHIC, Front C

Story & Pictures: Della Russel Ocloo, Tema

TWO separate explosions which occurred at the Western Steel and Forging Limited at the Kpone Industrial Area, Tema, last week have caused serious injuries to 13 employees of the company.
The two incidents which occurred at the Melting and Oxygen plants of the company on Thursday and on Good Friday respectively left the genitals of one of the employees identified only as Nortey completely severed while another victim, identified as David Adzakli, had a metal lodged in his chest.
The two victims, whose conditions are said to be critical, are receiving attention at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra while the remaining 11 are on admission at the Narh-Bita Hospital in Tema.
The 11 are Richard Nartey, Tettteh Ago, Robert Asmah and William Nuamah. Others are Adu, Ernest Addotei, Ebenezer Lamptey, Precious Kpormego, all melting shop assistants, and Charndika Bhagt, a technician from India.
The incident is the third in a row since the beginning of the year. A similar incident which occurred at the factory on February 1, 2011 injured four employees.
One of the victims, Mr Nartey, said the first incident occurred about 7:30a.m. on Thursday when he and two others, including the technician, conveyed a disused caterpillar to the furnace to be melted.
He said in the process, they heard an unusual explosion from the machine, which later set a section of the premises ablaze.
Mr Nartey was of the view that there were some explosives in the caterpillar which were not properly disposed of.
The Corporate Affairs Director of the company, Nana Tamakloe, declined to comment on the incident.
The General Secretary of the Ghana Federation of Labour (GFL), Mr Abraham Koomson, who visited the victims at the hospital, expressed disgust at the failure of the authorities of the company to report the incident to the police.
Mr Koomson, who was accompanied by Mr Caleb Nartey, the General Secretary of the General Manufacturers Metal Workers Union (GEM), said it was unfortunate the company’s management was unwilling to explain what might have caused the explosions.
According to him, the explosions raised serious concerns about safety in the country’s industries.
Quoting from the Labour Act, 2003, Act 651, Section 118, which clearly states that, “it is the duty of an employer to ensure that every worker employed by him works under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions, Mr Koomson said, the uncaring attitude of the company officials clearly demonstrated their disregard for laid-down regulations.
The Act further states that, “without limiting the scope of section 1, an employer shall (a) provide and maintain at the workplace, plants and systems of work that are safe and without risk to health; and (b) ensure the safety and absence of risks to help in connection with use, handling, storage and transport of articles and substances.
Mr Koomson said those were major prerequisites for which the Factory’s Inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare had to undertake regular inspections to ensure that they were in place at all workplaces to safeguard the safety of employees.
Unfortunately, he said, those regulations had been disregarded by both employers and the inspectorate division, thereby exposing workers in factories to such accidents like explosions.
When the Daily Graphic visited the factory about 11:am on Saturday, security personnel manning the entrance to the factory refused to allow this reporter entry to the premises.