Mr Francis Sarkodie-Addo, Head of Facilities at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), has urged Ghanaians to be vigilant in preventing danger by heeding early warning signals.
He said that before any dangerous situation happened, there were warning signals that, if addressed, might have prevented the incidence.
Mr Sarkodie-Addo, speaking at the “Public Overseers’ Safety Breakfast Meeting” on the subject “Safety in Ministry,” said unfortunate accidents including fire outbreaks, road collisions, and murders typically had early signals, adding that if one smelled gas leakage at home and overlooked it, it might lead to a fire outbreak.
“You have to take it seriously if your spouse, son, or friend threatens to kill you because it can happen,” he said.
“As the iceberg in the ocean had 90% of its mass submerged in the ocean and revealed just 10% above the ocean, so do future hazards display no indications of greater dangers,” Mr Sarkodie-Addo said, referring to Heinrich’s iceberg hypothesis for accident avoidance.
Heinrich’s injury ratio was 300:29:1, indicating for with every 300 close misses, there were 29 incidences and one big accident, he added.
Protection must be practiced at all areas, including the Church, according to Reverend Fred Ohene-Mensah, Chief Inspector, Department of Factory Inspectorate. Church leaders should ensure optimum safety at their worship places, he added.
He claimed that protection was not restricted to manufacturing but extended to all aspects of the economy, and that the government had the duty to ensure that everybody worked in a healthy atmosphere.
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Mr Ohene-Mensah said, “Health is a common duty, and everyone should display concern when the safety of staff or worshipers is at risk in any setting.”
He said that noise accumulation in churches could be controlled to avoid potential hearing problems in worshipers, and that it was unsafe for worshipers to attend services in unfinished structures.
Mr Ohene-Mensah claimed that the government would adopt a strategy to direct the introduction of safety measures.
Reverend Neny Ampah-Bennin, a former Commissioner of Police (COP), suggests that the welfare of children attending church services can be resolved by supplying caretakers with codes that enable children to be released during the service, avoiding abduction.
He advised worshipers not to leave their homes empty for night church services and said proper protection measures should be put in place to ensure protection in the church setting.
Safety Communication Consult (SCC), a safety, fitness, and environmental enforcement consulting company, hosted the event.
General Overseers from numerous Pentecostal and Evangelical denominations from around the country were in attendance.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
