Awareness of the Factories, Offices and Shops Act 1970 (Act 328) at KNUST, Ghana

Abstract

This paper establishes the awareness levels of the Factories, Offices and Shops Act 328 (FOSA), which relates to occupational safety and health (OSH) in Ghana. Data collection involved administering questionnaires to sampled individuals and key informants from the campus of KNUST. Questionnaires were designed to capture data on FOSA awareness levels, compliance and respondents’ perception of its effectiveness. There is generally low awareness level of FOSA and other existing laws on health and safety. Less respondents, between 40% and 25% from the general and key informant surveys respectively were aware of OSH laws. There is relatively high awareness level associated with the Labour Act 651 representing 60%, followed by FOSA (27%) and finally Workmen’s Compensation Law 187 (13%). On compliance, while over 90% have access to sanitary facilities, findings on fire-detecting and fire-fighting equipment availability, and reporting of incidents to authorities are worrying. Also most emergencies exits have no inscriptions to guide premises users incase of any emergencies. It is recommended that nationwide study should be conducted to establish the extent of low OSH awareness levels. Discussions on exploring the opportunities to incorporate OSH into Ghana’s educational and job trainings should be stimulated.

Keywords: Act 328, awareness, FOSA, Ghana, health and safety