An Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA) United Kingdom, Nigeria Region, has called for employee engagement in safety programs to enhance a safe and healthy work environments.
The President of the association, Nigeria Region, Dr Olusegun Aderemi,
made the call on Thursday at the association’s 13th International Safety Conference and Award 2023 in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the conference is “Accelerating Safety and Health Management Systems to Improve Productivity in the Workplace”
Aderemi said, “Employee engagement is crucial for the success of any safety and health management system. Workers must be actively involved in identifying hazards, suggesting improvement and participating in safety programs.
“Continuous improvement is a fundamental principle in safety and health management. We must strive for excellence by regularly assessing our systems, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing corrective measures,” he said.
He urged leaders, professionals and stakeholders to ensure they create a safe and healthy work environments that foster productivity, innovation and growth as a collective responsibility of all.
According to him, a robust safety and health management system is the cornerstone of any successful organisation, and that this does not only safeguard the lives and health of employees but also contributed to increase in productivity.
He said that such gesture also reduced downtime, heightened employee confidence, and improved overall business performance..
Aderemi said that by creating a safe and healthy work environment, such can foster a culture of excellence and ensure a sustainable growth for organizations.
“The theme of the conference encapsulates the essence of our shared commitment to creating safer and healthier work environments.
” We should also recognize that a strong safety culture is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic advantage for organizations.
“I would like to emphasize on the importance of three key pillars in accelerating safety and health management systems in our workplace: leadership commitment, employee engagement, and continuous improvement.
“Leadership commitment is vital in driving the culture of safety within an organisation, leaders must lead by example and demonstrate unwavering commitment to safety and health. They must allocate necessary resources.
Also, Dr Comfort Adeosun, Director, Occupational, Health, Safety and Environment, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF) stressed the need for everyone to be safety conscious.
According to her, OHCSF is participating in the workshop as a stakeholder in the implementation of operational safety and health national policy within the mandate of the OHCSF.
“Our role and mandate is on Section 4.12 of the Operational mandate of the civil service, and that is why OHCSF has motivated us, mandated us to go ahead with our implementation
“The circular has been sent out July 2022, we train desk officers across Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) so that the safety and work environment where civil service servant works are well kept, clean and safe,” she said.
She said that the award given to OHCSF testified and showed that its role in regulating the civil service was seriously appreciated.
According to him, OHCSF is glad as one of the recipient of award from stakeholders. We are looking forward to a robust synergy and collaboration with the association.
“We will continue to do our work within MDAs to make sure that Civil Servant health and safety is important to all the leadership across various levels of the organizations within the public service system,” she said.
