Kumasi city mall project chalks one million accident free hours

WBHO, the main Contractor working on the Kumasi City Mall project has celebrated one million man hours of work without any lost time injury - a feat considered in the construction industry as rare, especially in projects of its stature and magnitude.

An elaborate ceremony, marking the milestone was held on the construction site at Asokwa, in Kumasi, attracting a large number of workers, sub-contractors, consulting engineers and technicians working on the project.

Also at the ceremony were officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Factories Inspectorate Division of Ghana Standards Authority and the Chief of Asokwa, Nana Fe-baamoah Boafour II, who conveyed a message of congratulations and encouragement to the workers from the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.

The Ashanti monarch, on June 7, 2014, cut the sod for commencement of works on the multi-million dollar Kumasi City Mall (KCM), a development owned by Delico Kumasi Limited, an affiliate of Delico Achimota Limited and Delico Property Developments Limited, developer of Accra’s famous West Hills Mall.

The KCM project started with bulk earthworks in October, 2014 but construction works began in earnest on March 2, 2015 by WBHO, a highly accomplished civil engineering firm with impressive footprints in Ghana’s mining sector, roads and earthworks and civil infrastructure development.

This new safety milestone marks the third time in four years that WHBO has achieved one million man hours without Lost Time Injury, having recorded similar feats during the construction of West Hills Mall and the Achimota Retail Centre.

MBA Consult, a Ghanaian Safety and Environment Consultancy which has worked on all of Delico’s developments in the country and the Safe Environment Education Foundation (SEEF), an affiliated NGO committed to promoting safe and accident-free environments in workplaces, organised the KCM Safety Celebrations.

“Infrastructure development is critical to the progress of our country but too little attention is paid to what goes on at the sites – the serious issues of safety, health hazards and the environmental spin-offs of what takes place on these sites,” Mr. Daniel Asah, Lead Consultant of MBA Consult and President of SEEF said at the function.

Mr. Asah said it was important that such practical achievements are announced and celebrated to encourage other Ghanaian developers to adopt appropriate professional practices to keep the work environment at major construction sites progressively safe.

“By being so stringent on health and safety, not only do we safeguard the lives and well being of the workers, we also save precious time and money and ensure that production schedules are not unduly destabilised,” he said.

Almost 500 men and women work at the site every day and as many as 14 Ghanaian sub-contractors are engaged in the provision of special services on the mall project which is scheduled to be ready for use by the people of Kumasi in March next year.

Speaking on behalf of Mr. Isaac Kyei-Mensah, Chairman of the occasion who could not attend the function, Mr. George Duke Blankson, of Delico Kumasi Limited, congratulated the workers, sub-contractors and the professional team for the consistency in their commitment to operating within a functionally safe and secured work environment.

“For project of this magnitude and importance, one million man hours of operations without Lost Time Injury certainly deserves to be celebrated memorably. You did it at West Hills Mall, you recently did same on the Achimota Retail Centre project and now you have recorded another feat here in the Ashanti capital.”

“The credit for this achievement is shared equally among every single individual working on this project, from the engineer down to security man on site and I am very sure that the Board will be proud of you. Ayekooo!” Mr. Blankson told the workers.

Plaques, trophies and special citations were presented to deserving workers for distinguished commitment to the maintenance of safety on site.