Occupational health and safety practices and the regulatory regime: Evidence from the infantile oil fields of Ghana

Abstract

The study examines OHS practices and the regulatory regime in the Ghanaian oil fields. Using the systematic content analysis, the primary qualitative method obtained data from regulators agencies, operators, sub-contracted companies of the upstream and other external opinions. Findings discovered that in the absence of solid OHS regulations, partners of the Ghanaian oil fields play collaborative role in promoting health and safety in their operations. Meanwhile, observation further revealed the country’s legal provisions on crude production are bereft not because of no specific OHS legislations but are largely to the discretion of operators due to inadequate expertise, logistics, monitoring and surveillance. Owing to frail regulatory governance, operators are driven by reputational goals rather than external pressures in promoting OHS practices. The paper proposes for the Ghanaian regulatory frameworks to work as coercive pressures for the IOCs to be proactive in promoting health, social and environmental consciousness in the oil fields.