Fatalities in Ghana’s mining industry fell significantly in 2025, with recorded deaths dropping from seven in 2024 to three in 2025, representing a decline of more than 57 per cent.
The Ghana Chamber of Mines attributed the improvement to increased attention to workplace safety, including investments in employee training, emergency preparedness, leadership and risk management.
Despite the progress, the Chamber has cautioned mining companies against becoming complacent, stressing that the industry’s ultimate goal remains achieving zero workplace fatalities.
Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, disclosed the figures at the Zone One Inter-Mines First Aid and Safety Competition held at Akoon under the theme, “Safety First, Safety Always.”
“We should acknowledge this progress, but we must never allow progress to become complacent. Three deaths are too many,” Dr Ashigbey said.
Beyond the fatalities, the industry recorded 34 serious accidents and 210 first aid cases in 2025. Dr Ashigbey called on mining companies to strengthen hazard identification, behavioural safety, risk management and emergency response systems while ensuring that lessons from workplace incidents are properly documented and applied.
“Our destination therefore remains clear: zero fatalities and zero harm,” he stressed.
He further emphasised the need for mining companies to give equal attention to the safety of contractors and permanent employees, noting that workplace risks do not discriminate between workers based on their employment status.
Mine Manager of Gold Fields Ghana’s Tarkwa Mine, Dr Catherine Kuupol Kuutor, also called for greater personal responsibility among workers.
She said employees must follow safety procedures because they understand the importance of protecting lives, rather than only doing so when supervisors are watching.
“We have to do the right thing, not because we are being monitored, but because lives depend on it,” she said.
Dr Kuutor added that Gold Fields had extended its safety initiatives beyond its mining operations by working with host communities, emergency services, security agencies and community leaders to improve emergency preparedness and safety awareness.
According to her, responsible mining should not be measured solely by production figures but also by the lives protected and the development achieved in mining communities.
Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Prof. Bernard Kumi-Boateng, announced plans to introduce an inter-faculty first aid competition at the university from the next academic year.
Participation in the competition, he said, would be compulsory for all students as part of efforts to equip them with practical first aid and safety skills.
At the Zone One Inter-Mines First Aid and Safety Competition, Heath Goldfields Community emerged winner with 98 points, narrowly beating Ghana Manganese Company Limited Community, which scored 97.5 points.
Asante Gold Corporation placed third with 96.5 points, while Gold Fields Ghana Limited, Tarkwa Mine, and AngloGold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine placed fourth and fifth with 91 and 81.5 points respectively.
The reduction in fatalities offers encouragement for Ghana’s mining sector, but industry leaders say the three lives lost in 2025 remain a reminder that safety efforts must continue until zero harm becomes a reality.
