The CEO of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, says his outfit is actively monitoring its over 2,000 members to ensure that they are abiding by the protocols outlined by the Ministry of Trade to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the workplace.
According to him, stakeholders are increasingly concerned about workplaces becoming hotspots for the spread of the virus.
In an interview with Citi Business News, Mr.Seth Twum-Akwaboah assured that members of their Association are so far complying with the guidelines needed to ensure they stay productive while protecting workers.
“Some are doing well, but we also appreciate the fact that there are a lot of SMEs who have challenges adhering fully to the protocols. The minimal thing is being done in most of the workplaces. Also all companies we have visited and contacted, have given assurances that they are going by these protocols, but I think the difficulty is that we can’t follow it to the very letter because we don’t have control over the workers when they leave the work premises and get home. There is a limit, but within the factory settings the protocols are being adhered to,” he said.
Increase in workplace infections
His assurance comes as a number of workplaces have seen an increase in COVID-19 infections.
The Bulk Oil Storage Transportation Company BOST, earlier this month closed down its head office after 46 staff tested positive for the virus.
The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) on July 7, 2020, announced a shut down all of its Head Offices and corporate subsidiaries and divisions in Accra for a fumigation exercise after some staff tested positive for COVID-19.
The Tema office of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), has been closed after one of its workers tested positive for the virus.
Recently, workers of the Ministry of Finance have been asked to work from home temporarily following an ongoing COVID-19 testing exercise for all staff of the Ministry.
The most extreme incident of workplace infections occurred at a fish-processing factory in Tema, where one worker is believed to have infected 533 people at the facility.
As at July 10, 2020, Ghana has recorded 23,463 novel Coronavirus cases with 129 deaths and 16, 070 recoveries.
