The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations has warned management of the Shoprite Supermarket at the Accra Mall, to immediately remove scaffolds mounted inside the shop or risk closure and prosecution.
Speaking on this development on TV3, the Director of the Department of Factories Inspectorate at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Fred Mensah, said management of the shop will be sanctioned if they continue to flout safety standards and procedures.
The Accra Mall Shoprite has been undergoing some renovation works over the last few months, and scaffolding can be seen in various parts of the shop.
More recently, the deli section of the mall had been cordoned off to allow for the the renovation works.
Mr. Mensah said “we have made it clear to them that these scaffolds have to be removed as soon as possible. We will be at the place to inspect and see if they have adhered to whatever direction we have given to them.”
The Ministry is to ensure all workplaces are free of hazards, though Mr. Mensah noted that his outfit had personnel restraints that prevent it from being thorough.
“Because of our numbers, we are not able to get to some of these places so we focus on the high risk places. But when we get information from such places, we immediately deploy officers to these places to ensure that if there are any unsafe actions, they are rectified as soon as possible.”
After this notice, Mr. Mensah added that, “if we get there and scaffolds are still in place, we will take the next line of action. Either we shut the place down or we prosecute them.”
Similar safety hazards around the Makola Shopping Mall led to the death of a trader in May 2016, during an upgrading and expansion project.
The victim, Juliana Akweley Mensah, aged 28 and a mother of two, was struck by a flying object at the construction site by the roadside.
The Accra Metropolitan Assembly subsequently directed the contractor to review security measures at the site in order to continue work on the project.
The mall was also closed down for a while following the death.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
