Edward Debrah: A bright spot in occupational health and safety in Ghana

Safety and health management is one of the vital constituents of oil and gas industry activities because most of the operational conditions, chemicals and end products (hydrocarbons and other compounds) associated with oil and gas production are well-known to pose serious safety and health threats to the workers.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) focuses primarily on protecting employees in the workplace from accidents, injuries, and exposure to harmful substances.

The importance of occupational health and safety in the oil and gas sector cannot be relegated to the periphery and requires high technical know-how to handle the space.

Edward Debrah is one of the many bright spots in the occupational safety and health of the oil and gas sector in the country.

He has brought his experience to bear in the oil and gas sector through diverse ways.

Edward holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Oil and Gas Management from the Prestigious Coventry University in the United Kingdom.

He has over eight years of working experience in the oil and gas industry in OSH roles.

He started in an HSE and Compliance role with UBI Group, Ghana, in 2013, progressing to HSSE Compliance and Facilities Manager with Puma Energy, Ghana.

Edward managed all HSE related issues as well as supporting an increase of 100% of Puma Energy’s retail footprints in Ghana from 42 stations in November 2016 to 85 stations in December 2017 and spearheading the acquisition of all statutory licences for the construction and operation of a state of the art multi-million dollar Tema multi-purpose fuel terminal.

He had the sole responsibility of managing regulations for Puma Energy/Blue Ocean Investments Ghana for six years running without any regulatory breaches or sanctions.

In 2013, Edward took on Adjunct lecturing roles with the Applied Science department of Radford university at East Legon in Accra, Ghana.

Professionally, Edward is a Graduate Member of IOSH, Transitional Safety Practitioner with Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP- USA) and plans to achieve Chartered Status (CMIOSH) of IOSH and Certified Safety Professional (CSP) of BCSP this year.

His journey with IOSH began in April 2018 where he attended the Middle East Conference at Yas Viceroy Hotel in Abu Dhabi.

In September 2018, Edward was one of three young professionals whose video won the competition giving him the platform to present a paper on the subject ‘How Young Professionals Could Develop Early Careers in OSH’.

His presentation was applauded by a lot of conference delegates which made him feel a part of IOSH and from thence, he attended IOSH 2019 and subsequently because a speaker at IOSHWAC2020 in January in Lagos.

Edward’s vision in 2018 of ensuring IOSH becomes a household name in Ghana and the go-to professional OSH body in Ghana has not changed and he is poised to deliver just that.

He currently Chairs IOSH in Ghana, sits as a Committee Member of the Environment Waste Management Group and finally as an Executive Committee member of the West Africa Division of IOSH.

With the number of occupational cancers related deaths on the ascendancy, ED Consults Limited also support IOSH’s “No Time to Loose Campaign” with the aim of helping prevent occupational cancers in Ghana.

In 2019, Edward started running ED Consults Limited, a private HSE & Compliance Consulting Services business, with focus on Health and Safety Training, HSE Management System Development, Audits and Implementation, Regulatory Compliance Management to mention a few.

Reach out to Edward on: Twitter and Instagram: ed_consults

LinkedIn: ED Consults Limited Email: e.debrah@ed-consults.com

www.ed-consults.com

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