Alhassan Tampuli (left)
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) says it will embark on a National Petroleum Safety Campaign to engage all stakeholders in the petroleum downstream industry and the general public on collective safety responsibilities.
Dubbed “People Safety First”, the goal of the campaign is to minimize accidents in the petroleum industry in Ghana.
Discussing the spate of gas explosions and the way forward on Ghana Television flagship programme ‘Talking Point’, Chief Executive of NPA, Alhassan Tampuli, said the Authority was “meeting the Chief Executives of the petroleum service providers somewhere next week to collate their views on how best we can jointly prevent petroleum related accidents in the country.”
He was concerned about the recent fires in the industry and the lives that were lost to these accidents and the properties destroyed.
“Consumers must abide by safety guidelines on the use of petroleum products and the NPA, as regulator, will monitor and continue to enforce safety standards through inspections and sanctions.”
Director of Public Relations at the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Divisional Officer (DO)1 Prince Billy Anaglate, who was also on the panel, entreated owners of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) plants and fuel stations to adhere strictly to fire safety regulations in their operations in order to reduce fire outbreaks at the stations.
The service has also urged drivers of fuel tankers to participate in the fire safety education programmes it has rolled out to equip them with fire prevention skills.
In a related development, Chief Executive of the NPA, Alhassan Tampuli has commenced series of safety sensitization workshops for tanker drivers, tanker owners, dealers, retailer and oil marketing companies on the need to improve safety standards in their operations to prevent accidents.
The sensitization workshops were held in Kumasi, Tamale and Takoradi as prelude to the launch of the National Petroleum Safety Campaign in June 2017.
The launch of the national safety campaign will be followed by a safety workshop for Petroleum Service Providers (PSPs) in all regional capitals. There will also be stakeholders’ engagements with the media, organized labour, civil society organization and the consumer interest groups to sensitize them to disseminate the safety message to all sections of the society.
Mr Tampuli called for strict adherence to safety standards which include preventing oil spillage and leakages.
“Personnel at the forecourt should therefore insist that consumers adhere to safety guidelines at the forecourt such as observing no smoking signs, no use of mobile phones while refuelling at the filling station and turning off car engines.”
Mr. Tampuli and a team of directors of NPA also visited the Buipe and Bolgatanga depots of Bulk Oil Storage Transportation to assess the levels of safety standards of the depots.
While in Tamale, Mr. Tampuli extended his visit to Paga on the Ghana-Burkina Faso border to interact with officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
Discussions there centred on smuggling of petroleum products along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border and how GRA and NPA can collaborate to check smuggling.
A business desk report