Ghana’s Informal Automobile Repairs and Retail Sector

Informal small-scale automobile repair and retail enterprises are concentrated in urban slum communities with high populations of urban youths making a living from artisanal works with poor infrastructural planning and exposure to occupational hazards, risks, and accidents and the non-enforcement of occupational health and safety (OHS) laws. The chapter assesses Ghana’s OHS legislation, regulation, and enforcement in the informal small-scale automobile vehicle repair and retail sector at Kokompe-Accra. It argues that current OHS laws are outmoded, fragmented in operation, and limited in scope and coverage as far as the informal sector is concerned. Also, Ghana currently has no national policy on OHS services for its working population, as the activities of the Department of Factories Inspectorate (DFI) do not cover the operations of informal small-scale artisans. The chapter highlights the need to pass the national OHS bill into law and the decentralization of the inspection role of the DFI.