The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Training Centre, Tema, has held a one-day training programme for 100 ECG Electrical Contractors, as part of the company’s drive to ensure safety adherence at all of its operational installations.
The programme, which was the second session in the series planned for 2023, was mainly designed for the participants who work as third-party contractors and perform various works on behalf of the company, ECG.
And it is aimed at enabling the participants to be conversant and up-to-date with ECG’s practices and adherence to operational and safety protocols.
The Lead Facilitator of the training, Dr George Eduful, a General Manager of ECG’s Energy Consulting and Telco Business Directorate, explained why the company needs to take measures to ensure that its power distribution infrastructure was designed to standards and presented no danger to the technical staff and contractors.
He said, “Therefore, there is the need for electrical contractors to be engaged by ECG to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in the field, while ensuring they are adhering to regulations for safe installations.”
The President of the Ghana Electrical Contractors Association, Awal Sakib Muhammed, after he had lauded the management of ECG for the training programme, expressed his elation to participate in the training which he said, was meant to ensure that their profession remained sanitised to curtail incidents of possible accidents.
He advised the public to buy electrical cables from trusted sources only, explaining that sub-standard cables can cause fire outbreak, leading to possible loss of lives and properties.
The Director of the Training Centre, Ing Aheng Owusu-Afriyie, on his part said the centre provides technical training to players in the nation’s energy sector, including others from the West African sub-region.
“The centre provides competent and practical knowledge, while ensuring that safety remains paramount for all practitioners. The training provided here is for several different reasons and needs, mainly for technical issues,” he explained further.
To appreciate the operations of the ECG, Ing Owusu-Afriyie toured the media around some installations at the centre, where he explained how they have been intentionally done to mimic field installations such that “trainees who come here are taken through vigorous sessions such that once they get to the field, they will be abreast with relevant skills to handle situations.”
The trip covered the Lifeline substation and Lifeline, Ing Owusu-Afriyie explained, “When faults occur on the network, customers will not have to suffer an outage while the repair works go on. Instead, the power supply will be on and the technical staff will be working on it, ensuring that customers will not suffer outages.”
