The Law on First Aid and Its Compliance in Ghana: The Case of Drivers in Madina Bus Terminal, Accra

Transport Union leaders the Bus indicate that, members know first aid procedures because there are made to go through health education whenever they go through procedures to renew their driving licenses by the Driver and Vehicle Licenses Authority (DVLA). But the Motor Traffic Transport Department of the Police Service indicates that there have been several accidents involving drivers from the Madina Bus

The laws of Ghana prescribe First Aid as essential to every organization. Section 28 of the Factory, Offices and Shops Act, (Act 328) of 1970 [2], states among others that, every institution in Ghana is supposed to have a first aider and a first aid box. The provision in the Act, is to ensure workers are equipped with first aid skills to help a friend during medical emergency. The health and safety duties require duty holders to consider all risks associated with work, not only those for which regulations and laws exist.
The Ministry of Health also prescribes first aid education in all 1 st and 2 nd cycle schools to enable school children, acquire the necessary skills to help each other during medical emergency in schools, at homes and public places. First aid requirements will vary from one workplace to another, depending on the nature of the work, the type of hazards, the workplace size and location, as well as the number of people at the workplace. These factors must be taken

Problem Statement
While many lives are already being saved through first aid, a great many other opportunities are lost. Bystanders who are closer to people having health crises or injuries often do not react at all or they react incorrectly. These bystanders will be first respondents if

Objective of the Study
To evaluate the level of first aid knowledge and practices of the drivers at the Madina Bus Terminal, Accra to inform policy.

Theoretical Review
This study is underpinned by the Theory of Safety Culture.
According to Lee and Harrison (2000) [4] safety culture construct simply reflect a proactive stance to improve safety at workplaces.
Cooper (2016) [5] recommends a partnership between members of staff and management or leadership to work together in minimising the possibility of accidents, thus promoting a good safety culture for all. He asserts the fact that safety culture means different things to people from different background, but all attention should be focus on being proactive for safety at work places for all workers.
In order to understand the issue of workplace safety among drivers and workers in the informal small-scale enterprises, there is the need to explore the theory of safety culture. In addition, attitude and behaviour towards workplace safety can be linked to people's culture; that is their shared beliefs, customs, arts and knowledge.
There is, therefore, the need to discuss how the concept of culture can be applied to provide greater understanding of safety culture and as a means by which to approach safety in the workplace. In order to examine first aid compliance among the drivers, this study adopted the safety culture theory which aligns with organizational policies and procedures. The study sought drivers' views on policies and structures they (especially union leaders) have put in place to reduce accidents as a preventive measure and first aid procedures they apply when there are minor accidents.

Methodology
The orientation of this study and the character of the study site as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents called for quantitative approaches in data collection. The choice of this approach was justified on the premise that, it allows a closer contact between the researcher and the participants being studied.
In this case, studying first aid practices among the drivers meant that, the researcher needed to get closer to them in their daily activities and at their workplace, in order to get more insight into their operations. The drivers stated that they have gone through mandatory first aid training before their licenses is renewed.
Therefore, the study used in-depth, semi-structured interview guide and observations which served the purpose of obtaining individual perceptions of the work conditions and of the workrelated accidents and the way they are treated. Thirty-seven drivers and three union leaders were interviewed. Data analysis was carried out through thematic analysis.

Data Analysis
From the study, it was revealed that members are not aware that there is a law that make first aid mandatory i.e. section 28 of Factory, Shops and Offices Act (Act 328), of 1970. This may account for the low interest in first aid compliance although they had opportunity to go through health education when they were renewing their driving licenses. "I don't have any first aid box in my impress upon drivers to be trained [6,7]. "There are frequent accidents and minor injuries but there is no money to cater for such due to the demands from car owners".
In addition, it also came up that, some drivers do not have First Aid Boxes at home and in their cars and those who even have them, do not have anything that will be useful during medical emergencies.
This accounts for the low compliance to the laws on first aid.
Further, the study revealed that, the health education that drivers are made to go through before their diving licenses are renewed does not influence their behaviour to take first aid seriously. They just go through as a requirement to get their licenses renewed. A separate study to ascertain the effectiveness of the health education drivers go through as a requirement to renew their license is needed to ascertain the effectiveness of the prerequisite health education. Finally, the study discovered that there has been many lawsuits against drivers and their car owners on accidents. The unions and car owners handle such cases, the drivers emphasized.

Conclusion and Recommendations
The capacity, preparedness and willingness of ordinary

Challenges
It was difficult getting respondents to devote few minutes for interview. They were always on the move to get passengers.
Some were also not ready to be interviewed. Others referred the researcher to their union leaders.

Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.