The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Tema Region, has launched its 2016 safety week celebration with a call on workers to properly manage their stress.
Professor Samuel Oheneba Dornyo, President of College of Counselling and Psychology and an ECG Counsellor, said unmanaged stress could lead to death.
According to him, said stress affected every part of the human body and could lead to stomach problems, blood clots, abnormal heart beat, joints and muscle pains among others.
Prof Dornyo spoke on the theme ” workplace stress, a collective challenge”‘
He observed that due to continuous changes occurring in life, environment, and the country, people were being exposed to a lot of stressors which spilled over to the workplace, family and the individual’s health.
Such stress when not well managed, he said, resulted in anger, depressions, frustration, loss of self-esteem, fear and insecurity, feeling of uselessness, forgetfulness, and anxiety.
Other effects were headaches, gastric ulcer, impotence and rejection.
Prof Dornyo indicated that 20 per cent of a person’s health depended on things beyond their control while the remaining 80 per cent was affected by their eating habits and other behaviours.
He therefore advised workers to take charge of that 80 per cent by taking serious interest in their health, investing in resources and technology that could enhance their jobs.
He implored them to have responsible sexual behaviors, get proper nutrition, while avoiding alcohol and drugs and use of non-prescribed pharmaceuticals.
Prof Dornyo also said management of stress could be done through relaxation, doing breathing exercises, physical exercise, listening to music and accessing of psychological counselling.
Mr Jones Ofori-Addo, ECG Tema Managing Director, said the theme was most appropriate as it was in tandem with International Labour Organization (ILO) safety theme for the year.
Mr Ofori-Addo also encouraged workers to continue to think through the theme even after the safety week celebration.
He stated that even though his outfit mostly recorded third party accidents, they were putting in measures to reduce them.
As part of the measures, he said, intensification of public education would be done while usage of staff safety equipment would be strictly enforced.
Mr Mark Asomani-Wiafe, Tema Regional Engineer gave a safety situational report and said one accident each was recorded at the Nungua and Krobo districts involving a staff and non-staff respectively.
Mr Asomani-Wiafe cautioned non-staff against tampering with their lines as doing so could lead to injuries and even death.
Activities to mark the week long safety celebration include safety walk and customer education.
Source: GNA/NewsGhana.com.gh
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