The major milestone was achieved as at Thursday September 7, 2017, which also meant that, in 818 days, (more than 2 years) the mine had not recorded any injury serious enough to warrant an employee absenting himself/herself from work.

A lost time injury (LTI) is an injury sustained by an employee that will ultimately lead to the loss of productive work time in the form of worker delays or absenteeism.

A durbar was organized after the Health Walk where all the workers were appreciated for the feat.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemanu Koney who had his speech read on his behalf, congratulated the management and staff of Golden Star Resources Limited for this remarkable feat and urged them to maintain the standard.

According to the Chamber, working in the mining environment for two years without any Loss Time Injury is a feat which is not only worthy of commendation but also emulation by other mining companies or operators in Ghana and beyond.

“The chamber and its member companies believe that mining can be done without harm or injury to employees within the industry as well as host community members. The safety outcomes of Golden Star Resources Bogoso Prestea Limited (GSRBPL) gives credence to the Chamber’s mantra of zero harm. We are confident that the outstanding safety performance of GSRBPL will be replicated and potentially, surpassed by other mining companies,” Mr. Koney’s stated.

The historic achievement which is rare within the mining industry in Ghana, had been possible, according to Jerry Agala, the General Manager of Golden Star Resources, Bogoso Prestea operations, due to the continuous review of the company’s risk management system and Golden Star’s safety focus which has a slogan “If it is not safe, don’t do it”.

In an interview, after a health walk organized to commemorate the achievement, Mr. Agala said, “This feat has not been achieved in a vacuum, it took diligence, hard work and perseverance. In fact, on the part of management, we constantly reviewed our risk management systems, see the areas of concern and make changes where necessary which is communicated to the workforce through their various line heads.

“This is how we have largely worked, ensuring that the Take Five procedure is followed by any person who is expected to be working on a day. The Take Five, let me say is so important to us and if you can’t answer yes to all five steps then, you are not fit for work that day. With this Take Five, we have put together safety rules expected to be followed by any person who works here at Golden Star Resources Limited,” he added.

Recognizing the contribution of employees, partners, customers, regulators amongst others to the attainment of the enviable record, Mr. Agala said, the Environment, Occupational Health and Safety division of the company had worked very hard by ensuring zero harm to our people, the environment we work in, our customers and our suppliers.

“It is a great achievement and we are proud of it. Right from the CEO to Senior management, we want to convey and emphasis that look, “if it is not safe, then don’t do it”.

That is our message but above that, we in management we are indeed proud of the staff and sub-contractors at this mine,” he stated.

On his part the Occupational Health and Safety Superintendent, Philip Thompson stressed that Golden Star has committed tremendous resources to training to ensure compliance with corporate and statutory requirements, maintaining the 9.1 million LTI-free was the result of that investment.

He reminded staff of Golden Star that, there was no greater value than their life and that nothing should be as valuable to them as ensuring that they leave home for work and return safely to their families.