By Adewale Sanyaolu
As part of plans to boost businesses and economies of West African countries, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) have concluded plans to host a conference with the theme: “A Brighter, Safer Future – for Workers, for Businesses, for West Africa”.
The conference, according to the organizers will discuss and debate key issues that face the business community, regionally and globally and how the application of good safety and health principles at work will bring sustainable competitive advantage.
The conference will also highlights the benefits that workplace safety and health can create for individuals, communities and society.
Participants will be able to take part in debates and listen to keynote presentations and panel discussions involving, among many others, the World Health Organization(WHO) the United Nations Global Compact, the Lagos State Safety Commission, the Ghana Health Service and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria.
Topics to be discussed included; health and safety in the healthcare sector, health and safety in educational settings, the impact of Ghana’s health bill on occupational safety and health
Others are; the leadership role of women in the occupational safety and health profession.
The conference is a follow-up follow to a successful event held last year and attended by over 900 representatives of government departments, non-governmental organisations, businesses, industry and academia. This year’s online conference which is free, holds on 16 and 17 September.
Within months, IOSH inaugurated its West Africa Division, whose members include safety and health professionals working in Ghana, Nigeria and West African countries. It is IOSH’s first network on the continent of Africa and is continuing to attract new members and the possibility of potential collaborations with other institutions based in the region.
The conference will demonstrate the increasingly critical role of occupational safety and health professionals in business planning for all kinds of organization either in the private, public or voluntary sector, micro-organisation to multinational.
In particular, all sectors of the economy they have a central role to play in recovering economically from the COVID-19 pandemic. This recovery is not merely tactical and operational but an imperative for long-term sustainability.
One key message of the conference will be that the protection of workers must be an essential part of business planning if organisations are to survive and prosper in the future. Governments, businesses and organisations will be urged to plan with this consideration in mind.
IOSH, the chartered body for safety and health, is the leading membership organisation for safety and health professionals who work to create workplaces that are safer, healthier and more sustainable. It has a membership of over 47,000 safety and health professionals in more than 130 countries.