Becoming IOSH Ghana Chair - One year on.

Becoming IOSH Ghana Chair - One Year On

“Every giant tree was once a tiny seed…

IOSH as a Seed

IOSH Ghana kicked off last year in June (2020), after we had received the much anticipated mail that gave us the green light to start the IOSH division in Ghana. The division formed part of the bigger umbrella West Africa set up comprising Accra in Ghana, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja all in Nigeria.

A day after I survived a ghastly motor accident, we kicked off on June 9th with a webinar that out doored IOSH Ghana. Despite the budding stage of the division, the tenacity and dedication of the team members have contributed tremendously in growing the IOSH membership. 

Heading IOSH

Being a firm adherent of the saying that, acquiring knowledge is a life-long journey, the entire West African Division institutionalised monthly meetings intended to share knowledge and build the capacity of team members. Till date, what started off as a very informal session has grown exponentially to attract some local talents in the health and safety space. It has been fulfilling to lead and coordinate all these insightful sessions with the able leadership of my team-members. 

IOSH In Ghana

Having inherited an interim IOSH, my team and I resolved to shape health and safety as practiced in the country and to be the official mouthpiece that would influence government to pass fully functional OSH laws.

Achievements So Far

“To whom much is given, much is expected…

A year after accepting to lead this fraternity as its Chairman, I am proud of how much have been achieved. IOSH West Africa is now fully recognized thereby allowing for members to register directly with the division. Hitherto, you had to register with a different country and then transfer, thankfully that is now a thing of the past. With hard work, we would get to the point where we call ourselves a full branch. 

The Power Team

“United we stand…Divided we?

My able leadership, the vice president, the treasurer and the secretary have been of tremendous support throughout this journey. Given that all we do is completely voluntary, I truly admire and appreciate the effort and dedication. The support from IOSH and our colleagues in Nigeria gives me the impression that our good works have not gone unnoticed.

To Lead is to Serve and to Serve is to Learn 

In counting the benefits of heading this network, I am particularly grateful for the opportunity to develop my skills. Working with people from varying backgrounds, varying industries  with different characters, this leadership mantle has further developed both my people and communication skills such that I am able to communicate more effectively, I get the right feedback and I know that things are going well, It has also helped me to network.

Starting ED Consults

The invaluable knowledge and skill I had developed while Chairing IOSH led to another successful venture. During the advent of COVID when jobs were cut and incomes were reduced, I thought it wise to solve a problem in the industry: that was how ED Consults was birthed. This consultancy’s mandate is to promote health and safety, promote regulatory compliance so companies operating in Ghana would be able to easily acquire and maintain various industry specific licenses and regulations in compliance with Ghana laws for their businesses. Using our relationship, local knowledge and international exposure we are able to support businesses and individuals to acquire licenses and further maintain same.

In a Nutshell

I believe that this 1 year journey has been a good one. There has been a lot of learnings. I have learnt and practised the important skill of leading and influencing people. In line with IOSH’s #Work2022 goal of Influencing, Enhancing and Collaboration. 

This Chairmanship role helped me to collaborate with like-minded safety professionals that we have in Ghana and the rest of the world towards a common goal: Creating a Safer World of Work. 

My sincere appreciation goes to everybody who has supported me in diverse ways for the success of this unit. Thank you so much, thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for supporting me this far. There is no better time to join IOSH than now as we have a whopping 30% discount on membership fees for all persons in West Africa.

It’s just been 1 year, the vision is still bigger and we hope to over-achieve. You are welcome to leave your well-meaning comments below.

N.B Kindly visit www.iosh.com to know more about IOSH and the member benefits and also subscribe to become a full member while taking advantage of the whopping 30% discount. It doesn't get any better than that.