The National Petroleum Authority, NPA, has on Tuesday, February 26 launched the 2019 National Petroleum Safety Campaign in Accra.
According to the NPA, the campaign is to raise awareness of our collective responsibility to the safety of the industry and consumers.
Speaking at a brief ceremony to launch the 2019 campaign under the theme "People Safety First", Deputy Energy Minister Joseph Cudjoe said the petroleum industry cannot exist efficiently without adherence to safety protocols, hence, the introduction of the National Petroleum Safety Campaign in 2017 by the NPA to draw attention to the collective responsibility of the industry to operate safely.
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According to him, there is a call on all to make safety the keyword in handling petroleum products in order to reduce if not eliminate the reported cases of fires associated with it.
"The petroleum downstream industry which the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) regulates affect a very large segment of the population economically and safety wise, hence, the interest shown by the media, organized labour and other civil society groups on matters of safety," he added.
In 2017 a gas explosion at Atomic Junction has led to the death of some Ghanaians, after the incidence, the NPA introduced the Cylinder Re-circulation Model of Liquefied Petroleum Gas and the Safety campaign to help reduce the cases of gas explosions in the country.
Addressing issues relating to the role of the service providers for the success of the campaign, the Deputy Energy Minister said: "I would like to, therefore, reiterate that industry players need to take the bold step of adhering to industry safety standards through industry associations and peer review and where necessary expose their peers who are not keeping up with the industry standards. This will not only complement the role of our regulators but will embolden them to take decisive disciplinary actions against offending industry players based on industry recommendations."
Chief Executive of NPA, Alhassan Tampuli
The Deputy Energy Minister, Joseph Cudjoe lauds the effort of the NPA to maintain strict adherence to safety protocols.
"Impressed by how much work they have done to ensure industry players under their watch adhere to safety procedures, which are paramount to the effective performance of the downstream sector."