Vodafone Ghana Holds Safety Seminar

Accra, Ghana. April 2011-Vodafone Ghana has held a day's seminar on health, safety and ethical practices for 50 suppliers and agents of the company.

The seminar was the 2nd of its kind in a year, held every 6 months to review the safety programme of the company.

''Vodafone considers health, safety and ethical practices as very crucial to good corporate governance in ensuring that we meet our corporate responsibility objectives. We have therefore not relented in our efforts since entering the Ghanaian market to ensure that our operations and that of our suppliers conform to best and responsible business practices. Vodafone considers that no practice is important enough to put at risk, the health, life or livelihood of any of its employees, suppliers or more importantly the general public'', Bart Borchardt, Head of Supply Chain Management of Vodafone Ghana disclosed at the opening.

Vodafone Ghana has within 12 months attained International Safety Rating Level 5, making Vodafone Ghana, the only company in Ghana with such recognition. This feat was achieved due to the implementation of a number of initiatives during the year including; fatality prevention, Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking in all Vodafone Vehicles, frequent safety audits, safety awareness sessions, employee recognition schemes for compliance, adherence and third party compliance.

Also, as part of the company's Corporate Responsibility initiative, ethical disposal is high on the agenda in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency to prevent open disposal of oil, burning of electronic waste among others as they are likely to pollute the environment and water table.

''Vodafone Ghana is immensely proud that the implementation and insistence of standards in Ghana, has resulted in some of our local partners championing this to even greater heights. Two examples are Royal Systems and G&J Technologies who have embedded these principles in their operations'' Bart Borchardt, said.

''We have bought into Health and Safety compliance not because it improves the health of our business. We have done so because we strongly believe; it is the right thing to do as it makes us efficient, saves cost and protects the lives of our employees. It safeguards our client's equipment and above all, we contribute our quota in protecting the environment'', Godfrey Asiedu, Managing Director of G&J Technical Services, noted.

Godfred Akyea-Darkwah, road safety expert and CEO / Rector of Road Safety and Transportation Consultancy Limited, stated that, '' Vodafone's continuous support of road safety programs including funding 2010's baseline survey on the causes of road crashes in Ghana, means safer roads for Ghana, good contribution to Gross Domestic Product, and better investment opportunities for Ghana''.

The highest standards and policies that Vodafone has insisted upon have not only changed dangerous practices within the telecommunications sector, but across other sectors in Ghana.

The next 6 months will see an audit of all high risk suppliers, site inspections for medium risk suppliers, Global Positioning System tracking devices in all high risk suppliers' vehicles among others.