By Erica Apeatua Addo, GNA
Akoon (W/R), August 20, GNA – Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, says fatalities in the mining industry declined from seven in 2024 to three in 2025, representing a reduction of more than 57 per cent.
He said it showed that investment in leadership, commitment, workforce training, emergency preparedness, and risk management was producing results.
Dr Ashigbey gave the statistics in Akoon during the Zone one inter-Mines first aid and safety competition.
It was on the theme:”Safety first, safety always”.
He said “We should acknowledge this progress, but we must never allow progress to become complacent. Three deaths are too many”.
During the same period, the industry recorded 34 serious accidents and 210 first aid accidents.
The CEO said their statistics were not mere numbers, stressing that behind each one was a colleague, a family, or a community affected by an incident, adding their destination therefore remained clear: zero fatalities and zero harm.
He said they had to keep strengthening behavioural safety, hazard identification, risk management, emergency preparedness, and their ability to learn from incidents.
Mr Ashigbey also called for increased attention to contractor safety, reiterating that risk does not distinguish between permanent employees and contractors.
“That is precisely why this competition remained so important.”
Dr Catherine Kuupol Kuutor, Gold Fields, Tarkwa Mine Manager, touched on the theme reminded all that they had to do the right thing, not because they were being monitored, but because lives depended on it.
She said their commitment to safety did not end at the Mine gate and that Gold Fields Tarkwa Mine recognised that they operated in communities whose well-being was connected to their own.
She noted that the road they used, the emergency service they relied on, the families they returned to, and the young people who looked up to them were all part of their safety ecosystem.
That was why they kept supporting safety awareness and emergency preparedness in their host communities through partnership with institutions, community leaders, emergency services, security agencies, and local stakeholders, they were building a safer community, Dr Kuutor added
She pointed out that when communities prioritised safety, it protected families, preserved livelihoods and made development more sustainable.
The Mine Manager said responsible mining was not only measured by the ounces of gold produced, but also by the quality of life they protected, and the improvements brought to the communities that hosted them.
Prof. Bernard Kumi-Boateng, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT) Tarkwa, announced that they would soon hold their own inter-faculty first aid competition.
He said, ” We are starting next academic year, and it will be compulsory for every single student.”
At the end of the competition, Heath Goldfields community, emerged first with 98 points, followed by Ghana Manganese Company Limited community in second place with 97. 5 points, Asante Gold Corporation was third with 96.5 points, Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mine placed fourth with 91 points and AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine had 81.5 points for the fifth position.
GNA
Edited by Justina Hilda Paaga/ Christabel Addo
Reporter Erica Apeatua Addo
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