Socio-demographic effects on role assignment and associated occupational health and safety issues in artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Amansie Central District, Ghana.

The study employed the binary logistic regression model, Chi-square, and likelihood ratio test to explore the nexus between socio-demographic characteristics and role assignment as well as Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) issues in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) undertakings in the Amansie Central District of Ghana. Simple random sampling was employed to sample 250 respondents from three (3) different mining sites. The results revealed that socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, and work experience significantly impacted the type of role assumed by individuals in ASGM undertakings. For the socio-demographic effects on OHS issues, male respondents especially those in the age group between 18 and 35 with less work experience and education had a higher risk of recording injuries/accidents. Other risk factors such as types of role, reasons for ASGM, awareness of OHS hazards, awareness of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), usage of PPE, arrest for not using PPE, cost of PPE, and frequency of buying PPE had a statistically significant influence on the occurrence of injuries/accidents. It is recommended that the Government implement initiatives to ensure that workers in ASGM operations in Ghana are provided with training, education, resources, and support services to ensure their safety and well-being, taking into account their socio-demographic characteristics. Also, the government and related stakeholders create more jobs through sustainable mining with long-term potential in local districts to address goals 1 (No poverty) and 2 (zero hunger) of the sustainable development goals.

Assessing the knowledge and practices of occupational safety and health in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining sector of Ghana: A case of obuasi.

It is noted that most developing countries such as Ghana are still grappling with health and safety policies and practices as governments and corporations have made insignificant efforts. This study utilized a questionnaire since it is suitable for both illiterate and literate respondents and allows for the gathering of massive quantities of data in a short space of time. The descriptive statistics, chi-square, likelihood ratio test regression, and correlation were used to assess the occupational safety and health knowledge and practices of employees in the artisanal small-scale gold mine in Obuasi. Although majority of the respondents had less than 5 years of job experience, however about 36% and 19% of the respondents had between 4-10 years and 11-15 years of experience respectively. However, the study further observed that an increase in health and safety practices such as safety training, committee, education, facilities, etc. will increase the level of knowledge of respondents on health and safety policies. The study further revealed that the more health and safety practices, the higher the primary responsibility of site managers to ensure that workers are practicing safety. However, the general working conditions of respondents did not meet acceptable standards as revealed by the observation checklist. The study, therefore, recommends that prime Stakeholders in the ASGM need to consider investing in future research on ASGM safety issues to acquire accurate database on ASGM operations safety.