Author Archives: oshanigeria

The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing held a specialised training workshop for Safety Engineers and Officers of the Ministry in Abuja recently. Tagged ‘Safety First in the Construction Site’

The Honourable Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, who declared the workshop open appreciated the effort of OSHAssociation Nigeria Region for their partnership with the ministry towards improving safety culture in the construction sector. Also the Regional President of OSHAssociation Nigeria, Dr. Dalhatu Mohammed appreciated the Ministry for their readiness to ensure construction companies in Nigeria comply with safety guidelines to ensure the safety of employees in the sector.

This was necessary in order to reduce the risk of injuries and accidents at worksites to the barest minimum and ensure zero fatalities in the construction sector. He noted that the poor safety attitudes of workers, contractors and supervisors in charge of projects were largely responsible for accidents and deaths in construction sites. As a result, improving safety at the site through attitudinal change of workers and contractors became a priority for the Ministry.

 

Director, Safety and Security, Engr. Chris Onyibo said the Ministry made the right decision by partnering with OSHAssociation, one of the leading institutions focused in the field of Occupational Safety and Health. He encouraged the participants to maximize the opportunity and explore industrial best practices in relation to construction especially in the light of COVID 19.

Also addressing the participants, the Director of Engineering services at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Engr. Julius Olunrinola emphasised the duty of the government to ensure the health and safety of her workers, thus inspection and enforcement actions were being amplified for construction activities in the Ministry. According to him, reports reveal that most construction sites have low levels of compliance to HSSE standards, hence the need to deploy Safety Engineers/Officers to the sites. The participants were advised to display the highest level of professionalism in the discharge of their duties in order to justify the confidence reposed on them by the Ministry. While thanking OSHAssociation UK Nigeria region for partnering with the Ministry, he urged them to remain steadfast in their commitment to raising safety standards and awareness across all sectors, and to work together with the Government and other stakeholders to achieve this mission, the Director said.

The training which was held in the period of two days was delivered by Mr. Taiwo Adedoja (FOSHA) and Engr. Emmanuel Uwalaka who ensured adequate transfer of skills and knowledge to the delegates.

The event was brought to a close with an induction ceremony for new members joining OSHAssociation UK Nigeria region from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

 

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Ahead of re-opening of schools in the Federal Capita Territory (FCT) on the 12th of October 2020, the Chairman of the FCT Secondary Education Board, Hon. Yahaya Musa Muhammed, charged and urged all Principals and Vice Principals of Secondary Schools in the FCT to adhere to safety guidelines and be compliant to procedures to ensuring safety of students and teachers.

The training, which took place at the Government Secondary School Wuse Zone III was conducted by Occupational Safety and Health Association UK (OSHAssociation UK) – Nigeria region and Neighbourhood P & S Limited, in partnership with the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Secondary Education Board, Abuja.

The Director FCT SEB, Mrs. Nanre Emeje, in her opening remark acknowleged that the Board recognised the unique situation presented by COVID 19, and for everyone to see the need for safety in our School environments, also the inherent associated risks.

Thus, as a proactive measure, the Board engaged the services and expertise of the renowned international safety organisation – OSHAssociation to train principals and administrators on safety measures as schools reopen after a long period of time due to the Covid 19 outbreak. This training was designed to enable principals to train and set up procedures with their workforce and students to ensure safety in school environments.

The Chairman of FCT SEB in his address, advised the principals and vice-principals to create imaginary problems and solutions for emergency preparedness. He also intimated the administrators of the dangers of increased outbreak as a result of non-compliance to the stipulated guidelines. The Chairman appreciated the FCT Minister for his good works and continuous support to education in the FCT.

The training comprised of four sessions covering topics on COVID 19 and Mitigation strategies; Environmental Health and Safety and Guidelines for COVID 19; and Security, Safety Education and Disaster Preparedness delivered by Dr. Oscar Akumah (FOSHA), TPL Ibrahim Muhammad (MOSHA, MNITP) and Mr. Taiwo Adedoja (FOSHA) respectively.

In the final training delivered by the Regional Administrator of OSHAssociation Nigeria Region, Engr. Emmanuel Uwalaka, on “Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)” was discussed practically on the usages and proper maintenance. Other areas were highlighted and were addressed afterwards during the general interactive session with the principals.

Following the mandate of OSHAssociation as a professional body in the field of safety and health, the association wants to ensure that Nigerian students, teachers and every workforce are safe by making sure all safety guidelines and procedures are put in place, communicated and followed.

Educational stakeholders at the Federal, State and Local government levels are encouraged to partner with international institutions, such as OSHAssociation UK – Nigeria Region to ensure effective safety and health awareness and training in all schools.

OSHAssociation can be contacted via email on: nigeria@oshassociation.org For more information, visit www.nigeria.oshassociation.org

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Safety View Magazine

Following the recent challenges as regards Covid 19, Fire outbreaks and flood disasters, etc, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma who was represented by his Special Adviser on Public Safety, Hon. Prince Ugochukwu Nzekwe welcomed OSHAssociation Nigeria Executives in the State recently.

He further appreciated the Association for their willingness in working closely with the public safety office by creating awareness and improving safety compliance in the Society even up to every nook and cranny of Imo State. Hence, the Special Adviser on behalf of the Governor announced that they have accepted collaboration with OSHAssociation UK, Nigeria region to improve and ensure strict Safety Compliance in the state.
In his words, ” We are glad and happy to announce that we can work together as a team to ensure that Zero fatalities and incidents is achieved in every sector of the economy in Imo State, thank you”.

This news came up after they had seen the track record of the Association in the area of reducing incidents to Zero through proactive awareness, training and relevant capacity building workshops that builds employees’ safety consciousness at workplaces.

The Vice President of Imo State Chapter of the Association Dr. Austin Madu, supported by the Regional Administrator, Engr. Emmanuel Uwalaka and other state Excos extended appreciation to the Special Adviser to the Governor and vowed not to fail in their official assignment in the state.

OSHAssociation, an international safety professional body, with strong local presence in Nigeria is much determined to impact industries and communities positively, the Vice president of the Association in Imo State made this known to the Imo State Government during his presentation. He fully gave the assurance that the presence of the Association will command positive impact in the state.

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Hon. Minister of State for Works and Housing bags OSHAssociation UK Honourary Fellowship, seeks Collaboration with the Association in the Construction Sector

Following the need to ensure an effective safety management system in the construction and building sector, some of the executive members of OSHAssociation UK Nigeria Region visited the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Abuja recently.

The visit was led by the Nigerian regional President of the Association, Dr. Dalhatu Mohammed, Engr. Christian Onyibo and others to discuss challenging issues to ensuring safety best practices in the construction and building sectors in line with the Ministry’s agenda to ensure safety of workers at work sites.

The Honourable Minister,  Engr. Abubakar Aliyu, who received the delegates of the Association showed great appreciation to the leadership of the OSHAssociation in Nigeria region. He also sought for collaboration to strengthen the safety culture in the building and construction industries.

The regional president of the Association, Dr. Dalhatu Mohammed pointed out how timely it is to collaborate with the Ministry of Works and Housing and conferred on the Honourable Minister an honorary Fellowship of the Association for his commitment towards promoting safety in the construction sector.  He stated that collaborating with the Association will help to boost the safety status and improve the safety knowledge of the workforce in the Ministry.

The Minister thanked the executive members for their visit and went further to assure them of the Ministry’s collaboration, which would foster a closer relationship between the two bodies and help to ensure that there is a total Compliance to safety culture among the entire staff of the Ministry. “safety is very critical in our sector, therefore we shall be working closely with the Association to increase the productivity of the employees and the field engineers“. the Minister stated.

The Ministry of Works and Housing is one of the Federal Government Ministries that requires strong safety advocacy and awareness creation. Hence, collaborating with OSHAssociation as one of the critical stakeholders in this aspect will assist the government proactively.