Answer ... (a) What key health and safety requirements apply to renewables projects in your jurisdiction and are there best practices in relation to health and safety that should be adopted?
Licences to engage in commercial activity in the renewable energy industry often include terms and conditions, which may include health and safety as well as other stipulations.
A duty is placed on persons licensed under the Renewable Energy Act to:
- comply with technical standards and guidelines established by the Energy Commission; and
- maintain their equipment and property in a condition that enables them to effectively provide the service.
A licensee that has been granted a licence under the Renewable Energy Act to produce biofuel from feedstock must obtain the relevant permit from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the EPA.
A general requirement to consider health, public safety and environmental safety when planning or engaging in commercial activity in the renewable energy industry is created by the Renewable Energy Act.
The Health, Safety, Security and Environmental Manual for Energy Sector Organisations published by the Ministry of Energy (2019) provides companies in the energy sector with minimum requirements to guide them in the development of their respective operational procedures and processes in managing health, safety, security and environment issues. It provides such companies with the tools for the development of a fit-for-purpose health, safety, security and environment management system and standard operating procedures among other things. The document meets the legal requirements of Ghana and also embraces the standard requirements of global best practices in health, safety, security and the environment.
The manual was drafted in collaboration with sector agencies, industry players and academia. Key health and safety requirements under the manual include the need to create:
- a mobile equipment and pedestrians safety system;
- a machine safeguarding system; and
- an occupational health system.
(b) What are the potential consequences of breach of these requirements – both for the renewables generator and for its directors, managers and employees?
Section 11 of the Renewable Energy Act provides that even where an applicant for a licence meets the conditions required by the act for the grant of a licence to engage in commercial activity in the renewable energy industry, the board of the Energy Commission may – for reasons founded on health, public safety or environmental safety, among other things – reject an application for a licence.
In addition, where a licence holder has not complied with the conditions of a licence, the board may suspend or cancel the licence.
A person that fails to obtain the relevant permit from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture after the grant of a licence to produce biofuel from feedstock or to maintain the equipment and property used in the provision of a renewable energy service, or that fails to comply with the technical standards established by the Energy Commission, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to:
- a fine of not more than 5,000 penalty units (GHS 12 per unit); and
- in the case of a continuing offence, a further fine of not more than 50 penalty units for each day during which the offence continues after written notice has been served on the offender.
With respect to licensing, where a body corporate engages in commercial activity in the renewable energy industry without a licence, that body corporate, on summary conviction, is liable to a fine not exceeding 5,000 penalty units.
Generally, where the person in breach of the noted requirements is a corporate body such as a company, the company will be liable for the breach; however, where necessary, the veil may be lifted such that the directors/managers/employees of the company may be liable.