Health and Safety Practices in the Downstream Petroleum Sector: a Case Study of Fuel Retail Outlets in the Sekondi-takoradi Metropolis

Abstract

Health and safety is of great concern in the oil and gas industry. The downstream petroleum sector in Ghana has become very competitive, hence, the need to provide workers with the needed structured safety environment with functional policies to operate. The main objective of the study was to assess compliance of health and safety practices among attendants of fuel retail outlets in the Sekondi- Takoradi Metropolis (STMA). Based on exploratory research design, the study was guided by the pragmatic philosophy to intorregate 177 respondents using self-administered questionnaires, scheduled interviews and personal observations to coalate data. Field data was analysed and processed using Statistical package for social science (SPSS, Version 22) and Microsoft office package suite, 2019. The results indicate that all fuelling outlets assessed had adequate safety measures in place to aid attendants‟ operations and were familiar with the use of all safety measures in place. The respondents also agreed that to ensure sustainability of the safety environment, regulators, managers and fuel retail outlet attendents, all had roles to play. However, inadequate safety trainning and periodic medical examination on the part of attendants were rated relatively low among the variables examined. The study concludes that adherence to health and safety practices is central to the the oil marketing players in the industry. Ensuring safety environment sustainability at the retail outlets is also deemed critical. Thus, safety concerns among fuel retail attendants identified must be addressed. In recommendation, deliberate effort must be taken by operators to ensure routine safety trainings and periodic medical check-ups for workers of fuel retail outlets.