The Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) has organised a two-day workshop on Operational Hazards and Safety Environment (OHSE) for its staff under the GIZ and the European Union sponsored Pact for Skills: Support to the Transformation of the TVET System in Ghana project.

The initiative was spearheaded by the Institute of Competency-Based Training and Research (ICBTR) as an addition to the University’s ongoing comprehensive efforts to promote a safe and productive teaching, learning, and working environment in AAMUSTED.

The participants, including Deans of Faculty, Directors, and Heads of Department, Sections and Units, were equipped with skills in the Sorting, orderly Setting, Shining, Standardising, and Sustenance (5S) principles of the OHSE.

At the end of the October 15-16, 2025 workshop, themed “Workshop Organisation Methodology and Greening Pedagogy for AAMUSTED Management and CBT Facilitators,” the participants developed and presented action plans unique to addressing the specific challenges of their respective offices, laboratories, and workshops.

Addressing the participants on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor of AAMUSTED, Prof. Frederick Kwaku Sarfo, the Director of ICBTR, Prof. Gilbert Owiah Sampson, said the initiative was a preparatory effort to establish an ‘AAMUSTED Clean Day’ in November 2025.

The initiative, he said, would provide the platform for the participants to share the knowledge acquired at the workshop with other staff and students to inspire confidence and improve the safety in the University.

The ICBTR Director emphasised AAMUSTED’s commitment to implementing internationally accredited safety standards, ensuring both learning environments and workplaces maintain the highest levels of safety and efficiency. “The positive outcomes of the workshop would transcend compliance to fostering a safety culture and drive innovation in the University,” he observed.

GIZ’s Development Worker in-charge of TVET at AAMUSTED and project facilitator, Ms Marion Birgit Gottmann, explained that the training aimed to create a safer, more productive work environment by addressing common workflow challenges.

She said that the GIZ and the ICBTR would do a follow up on the training in November 2025 to assess how well participants have implemented the 5S principles of the OHSE in line with the proposed action plans and checklists.