By Albert Allotey
Accra, Aug. 23, GNA – Divisional Officer I (DOI) Michael Ato Korsah, the Deputy Director of Safety of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), has urged building contractors to adhere to fire safety protocol measures in their work plans.
He said fire safety was a shared responsibility and that it was important that all hands must be on deck to make sure such protocol measures were not neglected to save lives and property.
DOI Korsah gave the advice in an interview with the Ghana News Agency when he led a team of fire officers to inspect completed and ongoing construction works on high-rise buildings at Osu Oxford Street in Accra.
He asked contractors to hire fire safety engineers who have been registered and recognised by law to undertake work on their projects, saying, “because they are registered, we monitor and regulate their work to ensure they abide by the safety protocol.”
“So, if we inspect your work and find out that those working on your facility are unregistered people and not recognised by law we will have issues with you,” he stated.
The Deputy Director said the Ghana National Fire Service had embarked on the inspection exercise across the country to ensure that fire safety protocol measures were complied with by building contractors and owners.
He called on all who have acquired permits to put up buildings to abide by fire safety measures in their plans, while owners of buildings that were already in use must ensure the servicing of their protocol installations in their facilities.
During the visit to some of the building sites, the owners could not produce their fire safety permits and were advised to bring copies of the documents on their building premises for inspection.
DOI Korsah said the GNFS would continue to engage with building contractors and owners on fire safety measures to protect lives and property.
GNA
Christian Akorlie