Newmont Ghana won the Best National Community Safety/First Aid Competition
held at Kenyasi. The competition, sponsored by the Ghana Chamber of Mines, was
themed "The Right Way, The Safe Way, Everyday."
According to Esther Obeng Dapaah, minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, the
Ghanaian government expects mining companies to play a complementary role in
developing the mining sector and to make Ghana a preferred mining investment
destination in Africa - hence the need to making employee safety a priority.
Dapaah noted that reports of fatalities from the mining companies were
worrying, particularly reports of the deaths of illegal miners in pits and
underground concessions of mining companies.
"Mining companies are urged to provide all requisite safety gadgets at
their workplaces to ensure the safety of workers and neighboring
communities," Dapaah said. "We encourage mine employees to observe
all safety rules and regulations in discharging their duties to avoid
preventable incidents."
Joyce Aryee, chief executive officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, stressed
the importance of the competition could not be devalued, because it offered
mine employees the platform to examine their knowledge and competence in the
area of safety, and ensured that mine employees were better equipped to handle
unforeseen hazards. She said though it cost a lot of money to ensure safety in
the mining environments, the actual cost of doing nothing to promote safe
working environments was significantly higher.
Additionally, Newmont Ghana hosted the 2008 Annual National Mine Safety and
First Aid Competition to promote health and safety standards within in the
industry. Adriaan Van Kessen, Newmont regional vice president, Operations, noted
that "mining companies have a great deal of responsibility to ensure that
their activities are carried out under the safest conditions with minimum and
controlled impact on the environment."
Newmont Ghana took first place in the Community Brigade Teams' category and
Goldfields Ghana emerged as winners of the Safety and First Aid competition.
