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Author oshanigeria Categories Chapters, Education, Inductees, Membership, News Leave a comment

IMO: THE RECTOR FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC NEKEDE DECORATED AS OSHAssociation GRAND PATRON, PLEDGES TO ENFORCE QHSE IN CURRICULAR

IMO: THE RECTOR FEDERAL POLYTECHNIC NEKEDE DECORATED AS OSHAssociation GRAND PATRON, PLEDGES TO ENFORCE QHSE IN CURRICULAR

The Governing Council of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, has expressed concerned over the employability of its students in terms of basic Occupational Safety and Health Knowledge and has directed all Departments within the institution to enforce Quality, Health, Safety and Environment (QHSE) training in their curricular.

The Rector of the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Engr. Dr. Michael Arimanwa FNSE, FOSHA, JP, gave the directive during the 2022 Imo State Specialised Health, Safety and Environment Programme held recently at the 1000 Capacity Auditorium, Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri.

 

The event with the theme: “The Roles of Educational Institutions in Building Quality Safety Education in Nigeria” is hosted by the Occupational Safety and Health Association in conjunction with the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri, Imo State and is specifically aimed at containing domestic and workplace fatalities and at the same time premiering the safety revamp project of the institution in conjunction with the Association to see that the students are equipped with the fundamentals of Safety best practices required in industries.

Welcoming delegates at the event, the Rector, Engr. Dr. Michael Arimanwa FNSE, JP, who is also a distinguished Fellow of OSHAssociation UK, expressed his excitement at the launch of the program. He attested to the delegates that the Federal Polytechnic Nekede was once again setting the pace as the first to start the HSE Training Programme in the entire Southeast. He reaffirmed the status of his institution as the best-performing Polytechnic in Nigeria, as well as a Centre of Excellence on ICT.

The Rector also expressed optimism that the HSE program would create a new wave of consciousness in the mind of the citizenry as far as health, safety, and the environment is concerned.

 “We believe this program would help to awaken safety awareness among people, especially now that people even slump while working. It is also our hope that in no distant time, the membership of OSHA in Federal Polytechnic Nekede and the Southeast would expand significantly” He explained.

Declaring the event open, the President, OSHAssociation Nigeria Region, HRH, Dr. Amb Olusegun Aderemi declared that TVET remains the solution to provide jobs for the teaming unemployed youth in the country adding that Safety and Health Knowledge remains relevant as it will safeguard the lives of the workforce, especially the young ones who are 100% of the nation’s future.

Represented by the Rivers State Chairman, Dr. Chris Mitchell FOSHA, the OSHAssociation’s President reiterated that the inculcation of Health and Safety training in TVET will go a long way to not just revitalize the sector, but ensure that accidents, incidents, and fatalities are being stunted to the barest minimum.

“With the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in conjunction with the OSHAssociation critically driving safety best practice across the board, polytechnics remain relevant in this journey that is set to bring out a revamp in the nation as far as Health and Safety is concerned” He declared.

Also speaking at the event, the  Ag. Chairman of the Governing Council of the Polytechnic, Sqd. Ldr. Chima Idika Chima (RtD) thanked the Rector and his Management team for the feat of establishing a HSE Training Centre in the institution, pledging the support of the council members to the program.

In a keynote address, the Chairman of Imo State Chapter of OSHA UK – Nigeria and Coordinator Poly-OSHA Programme, Dr. Austin Madu, thanked the Rector for the unflinching support he granted the OSHA team which facilitated the inauguration of a HSE International Certification center at the Federal Polytechnic Chapter. He described safety and health as “constituents of welfare because health is wealth.”

According to Dr. Madu, “In her bid to complement the efforts of trade unions, therefore, OSHA has offered a lucid operational framework that provides the right impetus to workers all over the world at least to keep the zest of trade unions fighting the increasing rate of work-related diseases, accidents, and fatalities afloat.”

In a lecture at the event, The Regional Administrator of OSHAssociation Nigerian region, Engr. Emmanuel Uwalaka averred that safety is a matter of life and death revealing that many deaths recorded in Nigeria occurs as a result of negligence to safety tenets.

The speaker further described safety skills as “a soft skill” that can earn anyone a place in multinational organizations. He lauded the Rector for championing the establishment of the HSE Training Centre in Federal Polytechnic Nekede, adding that the institution is at the vantage of servicing the rest of the Southeast in HSE training and certification.

The high point of the event was the investiture of sixteen individuals as Fellows of the OSHA-UK – Nigeria (FOSHA) and the induction of over forty-one people as members (MOSHA). Some of the individuals that received the OSHA Fellowship investiture were the Deputy Rector (Academic), C.C. Onyemenonu, ASUP President, Mr. Anderson Ezeibe, Dr. Basilia Igbokwe, Comr. Oliver Uchenna Enete, Engr. Dr. Moses Owolabi, among others.

The high point of the event was the investiture of sixteen individuals as Fellows of the OSHA-UK – Nigeria (FOSHA) and the induction of over forty-one people as members (MOSHA). Some of the individuals that received the OSHA Fellowship investiture were the Deputy Rector (Academic), C.C. Onyemenonu, ASUP President, Mr. Anderson Ezeibe, Dr. Basilia Igbokwe, Comr. Oliver Uchenna Enete, Engr. Dr. Moses Owolabi, among others.

Similarly, the event was used to decorate some notable individuals as Patrons of OSHA-UK, among who was the Ag. Chairman of the 14th Governing Council, Sqd. Ldr. Chima, I. Chima, Chairman/CEO Fratelo Group of Companies, Evang. Berthran Uzodinma, HRH Eze Godwin Merenini, and HRH Eze Augustine Iwuoha.

Meanwhile, the Rector, Engr. Dr. M.C. Arimanwa FNSE, JP, was decorated with the star award of Grand Patron of the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA), United Kingdom, Nigeria Region.

The award-winning Polytechnic boss joins the league of eminent but few Nigerians to be so decorated in that cadre, among who is the Sultan of Sokoto, Alh. Saad Abubakar, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi and Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass, King Alfred Diete-Spiff, among others.

OSHAssociation has never relented in advocating for safety best practices in the nation, to this effect, Association has rolled out several campaign programs such as Conferences, workshops, and training programs among others across the nation through its chapters all in a bid to consciencetize the citizenry on the need and benefits of safety compliance in workplaces as well as across the board.

Author oshanigeria Categories Education, News, NSAP, OSHA Training Leave a comment

MARITIME SAFETY: Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) equipped their Staff with the Workplace Safety Knowledge

In fulfillment of its mandate stunting fatalities, accident, and incidents across all sectors of the nation’s economy as well as extensive safety advocacy, the Occupational Safety and Health Association in collaboration with the Spring Creek Integrated recently organized a one day Health and Safety Awareness Course for the management staff of the Nigerian Shippers council through the virtual platform.

Declaring the safety awareness training open, the Executive Director of OSHAssociation United Kingdom, John Flynn FOSHA, said that the issue of safety remains an issue of critical concern across all sectors, especially the maritime sector. While itemizing some of the key issues of safety concern, John Flynn opined that more efforts are required as regards policies and regulations development, which will go a long way to revamp the sector by instilling a substantive level of safety consciousness and confidence in the mind of workers in the sector.

While charging the management staff to ensure health and safety compliance in the council, the OSHAssociation Executive Director expressed his optimism that the continued Safety Capacity Development training will help the council as far as Occupational Safety and Health best practices and its localization is concerned in the country. According to him, the Association training is specifically tailored to suit industrial needs and peculiarities as far as Health and Safety are concerned in the Maritime Sector.

“OSHAssociation provide safety training programmes tailored to the needs of ships, shipyards, and their workers. No matter what your workday looks like, our training not only suits the industry but instills a substantive level of consciousness in the mind of the workers of the sector and ensures that they are equipped with all the fundamental and vital knowledge to see that they carry out their activities safely. He said.

Similarly, the Regional Administrator of the Association, Engr. Emmanuel Uwalaka gave a brief erudition on the strides and achievement of the Association in public sector and it’s impact as regards effective safety advocacy across all sectors of the economy. While expressing his delight in the Continues Capacity training programmes which is being premiered, Engr. Uwalaka attributed the high rate of accidents and fatalities across the nation to a lack of compliance to set safety guidelines as well as deliberate ignorance and disregards to safety measures.

Speaking at the event, the chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the Association, Dr. Chris Mitchell FOSHA educated the staff on the need for management staff to also be safety leaders in their workplaces. In his presentation on “Continuous Development and Improvement on Workplace Safety: A Gradual Journey to Health And Safety Skills in the Workplace”, Dr. Chris emphasized the need to enact a working organisational safety culture in a workplace which according to him is very vital because “actions driven by organizational believes can have a significant influence on the workers’ action.

While itemizing the reasons for resistance to achieving a safety culture include doubt, leadership, infrastructural, and motivation among others, Dr. Chris established that the characteristics of a positive safety culture must include value, personal safety, willingness, and safe behaviors adding that an individual can be committed to safety wholly especially if they are consciously competent, reward safe behaviors, looks at eliminating causes of hazards instead of placing blames, as well as demonstrating and active behavior towards coworkers.

Also speaking at the event, Mr. Ayoola Kolawole Ishola MOSHA; a Safety Engineer gave common examples of Shipping and Port Accidents including the modalities that ought to be implemented to prevent or address the situation as the case may be. Mr. Kola in his presentation titled “Workplace Health and Safety Best Practices in Shipping and Port Operations” explained that everyone (including the supervisor, the employer as well as the organization) has a critical role to play in terms of health and Safety at workplace.

OSHAsssociation has never relented in ensuring that the gospel of safety is localized extensively, especially through awareness, training and capacity development programmes for organizations across different sectors of the industry. This and many other strides have so far established the Association as the top training and impacting institution in Nigeria and beyond as far as Occupational Safety and Health are concerned.

– Team

Safety View Media

Author oshanigeria Categories Education, OSHA Training, Skills, Uncategorized Leave a comment

OSHAssociation TRAINS, CERTIFIES 15 NAPTIN TRAINEES ON PROFESSIONAL HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

OSHAssociation TRAINS, CERTIFIES 15 NAPTIN TRAINEES ON PROFESSIONAL HEALTH, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENT

By: Alanza Giwa

In continuous consolidation of its mandate of stunting fatalities across all sectors, the Occupational Safety and Health Association – Nigeria Region conducted a 4-day in-house Professional Health, Safety and Environment Training and Certification for 15 trainees of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) to equip them with fundamental knowledge as far as Occupational Health and Safety in the Power Sector is concerned.

The four days training conducted at the NAPTIN Regional Training Center, Kainji, New Bussa, Niger State, is part of the Associations stride to improve the knowledge and skills of people, reduce risk and also make workplaces healthier and safer for everyone.

The training programme included the following courses: Fire Safety and Prevention in Power Sector (Course 107), Workplace Health and Safety (Course 109), and Personal Protective Equipments PPE (Course 108),  to mention but a few, all of which were taught extensively by OSHAssociation’s training Instructors.

In his opening address to the trainees, the Training Representative of OSHAssociation – Nigeria Region, Mr Abiro Onome Victor MOSHA charged them to take the training with utmost seriousness as its knowledge would not just ensure their safety but that of the people working with them.

Reiterating the need for them to be safety ambassadors, Mr Abiro also pointed out that choosing the right training partner is very key adding that OSHAssociation’s training program will not just broaden their horizon but will be pivotal towards increasing their chances of success in the industry.

Similarly, NAPTIN’s Deputy Director Programm, Engr.  Ado Ibrahim who spoke during an exclusive interview with Safety View (OSHA Media arm) remarked that NAPTIN being the only institute in West Africa with eight training centres noted that since the inculcation of Health and Safety in the curricula of the institute, there has been tremendous improvement in the performance of the trainees in the field.

According to him, the trainees in the field deal with the highest level of voltage which is risky, adding that the inculcation of safety training has improved their confidence level and safety consciousness.

He furthermore noted that NAPTIN will continue to work with the OSHAssociation to equip all their trainees with OSHAssociatio’s Professional Health, Safety and Environment Training and Certification to ensure better delivery in the industry.

Safety is fundamental to all sectors of the economy and OSHAssociation has remained resolute through its training programs at ensuring that every individual especially the workforce is equipped, trained and educated on safety best practices.

Author oshanigeria Categories Education, Health care, News, Skills, SSC, Student 1 Comment on OSHA Association For Occupational Safety And Health Of Nigeria (OSHAssociation) Hosts Safety-Related Organisations To Drive Health, Safety And Environment (HSE) Sector Skills Council (SSC) In Nigeria

OSHA Association For Occupational Safety And Health Of Nigeria (OSHAssociation) Hosts Safety-Related Organisations To Drive Health, Safety And Environment (HSE) Sector Skills Council (SSC) In Nigeria

OSHA Association For Occupational Safety And Health Of Nigeria (OSHAssociation) Hosts Safety-Related Organisations To Drive Health, Safety And Environment (HSE) Sector Skills Council (SSC) In Nigeria

As part of its efforts to enhance Occupational Safety and Health Education in Nigeria while still driving proactive awareness in the area of Health, Safety, Security and Environment across all sectors of the economy, OSHA Association for Occupational Safety and Health of Nigeria as mandated by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has hosted HSE related organisations in a bid to pilot the formation of Sector Skills Council for Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) in Nigeria in line with the provisions enshrined in the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). The meeting was held at the Enterprise Technology Center, Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja recently.

The meeting with the theme: “Sector Skills Council (SSC) Members Meeting for Health, Safety and Environment” brought together stakeholders from several HSE related organisations such as Nigerian Environmental Society, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON), Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Police Force, Nigerian Navy amongst others; including other delegates who joined the meeting via the Online OSHA ZOOM PLATFORM.

The opening remarks were made by the Regional President of OSHA Association, HRH Dr. Amb. Aderemi Olusegun who enjoined the delegates to take the formation of the Sector Skills Council (SSC) on HSE seriously as it is in the best interest of the general public and the Nigerian Economy. He further appreciated the commitment of the members who attended the last inaugural meeting held on 9th September 2021. He further assured all stakeholders the need to work together to develop the safety consciousness of Nigerians in various sectors, so as to reduce the high rates of injuries and deaths at workplaces.

 

Speaking on the need to enhance safety in all sectors, while explaining the role of OSHA Association in the delivery of HSE programmes, Prof. Rabiu AbduSSALAM Magaji as the HSE SSC team lead and the Chairman of the OSHA National Safety Advocacy Project (NSAP, 2021-2023) disclosed that the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE), which is the board spearheading all technical education has shown serious interest in inculcating HSE SSC into the NSQF.
While explaining the conditions and requirements of establishing Sector Skills Council, Prof. Magaji affirmed that the NBTE has mandated OSHA Association to work closely with all the HSE related organisations and NGOs to ensure successful coordination and the formation of the HSE SSC. He further encouraged the stakeholders to be part of the success train of the HSE SSC formation for the benefit of Nigerians.

Similarly, The Regional Administrator of OSHA Association, Engr. Emmanuel Uwalaka enjoined the stakeholders, especially delegates from the private sectors to key in as they represent their Organizations so that they make it possible for the members of this meeting meet the requirements of the formation of the SSC as enshrined in the NSQF.

Meanwhile, the Registrar of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), Mr. Benson Adam Otite, stated the need for all critical stakeholders to play their roles in the formation of the SSC and in the pursuit of HSE development in Nigeria. He however noted that for the benefit of professionalism and upcoming professionals all hands must be on deck to ensure that HSE is taken to the grassroots. He advised that International standards can be domesticated to drive HSE in Nigeria.

Similarly, Mrs Uwemedino O., representative of the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), applauded OSHA Association for organizing the stakeholders meeting because HSE issues are not properly developed in the Country even though it cuts across all sectors of industries and sectors of the Nigerian economy. She also reiterated that SON is available for partnership and to support in the development of the new HSE SSC.

The meeting came to conclusion with networking and photography of delegates; while the next meeting will be scheduled as the need arises.

 

 

For more information, visit www.nigeria.oshassociation.org  or email: nigeria@oshassociation.org

 

*Media Team*
OSHAssociation Nigeria

 

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