ESTABLISHING A VIBRANT SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Safety has been defined as the condition of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional, occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure. Safety can also be likened to the control of recognized hazards to achieve an acceptable level of risk.

Home safety may indicate a building’s ability to protect people from external harm by incidents such as weather, home invasion or may indicate that its internal installation such as appliances, stairs and so on are not dangerous and harmful for its inhabitants.

Traffic signals are perceived as safe, yet under some circumstances they can increase traffic crashes at an intersection. Continuous changes in technology, environmental regulation and public safety concerns make the analysis of safety in building collapses more and more demanding. It is also pertinent to mention that security is of higher importance to many people than substantive safety.

For example, a death due to murder is considered worse than a death in a car crash. Even though in Nigeria, traffic deaths are more common than homicides. It is quite clear that most people understand the concept of safety since it is being a reassuring subject in the minds of many. Some people by their actions are deliberate in making the society unsafe. Ordinary safe health habits like washing the hands have only become part of daily life after the emergence of the Ebola Virus Disease.

Infact, there is a common workplace saying “safety first” but are people really safe. What kind of safety measures can be put in place in homes or workplaces to be safe? It is quite often to see buildings erected with substandard materials or the involvement of quacks all in the name of maximizing profits. Some buildings are protected with iron bars and multiple security gadgets. Experts have observed that iron bars on the entrances have been known to prevent people from escaping fire incidents and/or prevent the fire departments from gaining access to put out a fire.

Hence it could rightly be said that some of the safety measures taken are more often than not geared towards protecting property from theft and hardly about protecting the personnel. It’s equally disheartening that most offices don’t organise safety trainings and drills for workers. It is therefore necessary to emphasize that safety should be the concern of all.

Safety operations have economic benefits to all stakeholders, the industry, the employee, community and the government. In response to perceived risks, many interventions may be proposed. Standard protocols and procedures should be implemented so that activities are conducted accordingly. Periodic evaluations of employees, departments and so on need to be entrenched and appropriate safety education enhanced. Government and industry regulations on safety should be enforced.   

In Nigeria, a number of standard organisations exist that promulgate safety standards. One of such is the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON). The ISPON Act among others, checks the activities of quacks in the industry by ensuring the quality of safety related training offered by consultants and institutions; and ensuring that only qualified persons are offering safety services to industries.

Such organs should be strengthened to perform their statutory functions. There is an implied moral obligation placed on an employer to ensure that work activities and a place of work are safe. There are legislative requirements in just about every jurisdiction on how this is to be achieved and substantial body such as effective safety management; which is the reduction of risk in the workplace can reduce the financial exposure of an organisation by reducing direct and indirect cost associated with accidents and incidents.

A safety management system which provides a systematic way to identify hazard and the control risk while maintaining assurance that these risk controls are effective should be established at all levels of government and the private sectors.

-          Courtesy Sanda Askira (Directorate of Engineering, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).