Experts in the health, safety and environment (HSE) profession have said that in order to ensure occupational and overall health and safety for a sustainable society, there is an urgent need for sustained safety awareness as well as collaboration among stakeholders for greater effectiveness.
The experts who spoke at the 2016 annual professional development conference of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), Nigeria chapter, in Lagos recently, called for a synergy between the government, professional institutes, educational parastatals and professionals/practitioners in the field of safety in order to evolve sustainable strategies to enshrine the culture and practice of safety in Nigeria.
Rita Obayojie, president, ASSE Nigeria, said though safety consciousness and awareness were on the increase in the country, there was the need for sustained efforts in awareness creation, by governments as well as professionals, through pep talks, trainings, conferences, seminars and workshops.
She said the theme of the conference, “Safety Advocacy and Compliance for a Sustainable Society”, was in line with the aim of the conference, which is to create an avenue for professionals not only to come together for the sake of safety but also to take away ideas and strategies, renew their humanitarian service to protect people, properties and the environment, and continually be advocates of the safety profession in words, actions and reactions to the society at large by devising sustainable techniques to keep Nigeria safe for its citizens.
“Safety awareness in Nigeria has always been a sensitive issue and various professional bodies, organisations as well as practitioners had looked for ways to collaborate with the government on how to ensure sustainability,” Obayojie said.
“We have had to deal with unsafe conditions and acts in our daily lives and we see these occurring in our society on several occasions. In our own little ways as professionals, we try to intervene and educate those involved on the hazards associated with their actions or environment, also making them aware of the risks involved and the most practicable control measures. Most times we are limited to just our organisations and the people who are lucky enough to be around us,” she added.
Michael Belcher, global president, ASSE, who spoke to journalists on the sidelines of the conference, said the association was willing to work closely with governments to ensure that safety regulations are not only put in place but that they are also effective in reducing injuries and accidents.
Fouad Oki, director-general, Lagos State Safety Commission, in his goodwill message emphasised the need for safety and health professionals to understand and cooperate with government in its efforts to regulate occupational safety and health, adding that management system of occupational safety and health systems in the country faced serious challenges, such as lack of sustained efforts, weak institutional coordination and respect for extant laws by professionals.
“The Lagos State government recognises that to sustainably manage our safety, health and environment, there will be need for all stakeholders to jointly and collectively maximise resource management and ensure that our effort results in greater effectiveness,” Oki said.
“We don’t have a choice about it. Unless we pull together, the challenge will overwhelm us, especially at the state levels. This is exactly the reason the Lagos State Safety Commission was set up to address the very serious safety challenges bedevilling the workplace,” he added.
CHUKS OLUIGBO
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
