Reps issue seven-day ultimatum for submission of relevant HSE policy

The House of Representatives at the weekend issued a seven-day ultimatum to 20 companies involved in manufacturing, construction, oil and gas as well as tank farms and logistic operations to submit relevant documents and policies on health, safety and environment (HSE) for legislative scrutiny.

Chairman, House Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations, Hon Ibrahim Hamza, issued the ultimatum at the end of the 4-day advocacy and on-the-spot-assessment of some companies’ facilities in Port Harcourt, River State.

Some of the companies visited are: Intels, Brawal Shipping Nigeria Ltd, Notore Chemicals Industries Plc, Oando Plc, West African Container Terminal, Tonimas, M-I Nigeria Ltd, Julius Berger, Total Energies, Indorama PetroChemical Ltd; Sahara Energy; Schlumberger Nigeria Ltd and Aos Orwell Ltd operating at Onne and Port Harcourt, River State.

Hon Hamza and other members of the Committee who frowned at the recurring spate of inferno at oil and gas facilities in some parts of the country, underscored the need for all employers of labour in the public and private institutions to adhere strictly to the extant health, safety and environmental regulations with a view to secure lives of Nigerian workers and expatriates as well as investments.

He said: “As you can see, in the last 96 hours we had exhaustive and intensive advocacy tour around over 20 companies in and around River State, manufacturing companies, construction companies, oil and gas industries, we saw a lot.

“What we are actually doing is to do an on-the-spot assessment and on-the-spot analysis of what is actually happening in the industry as regards to health and safety issues and we saw a lot and when we get back to our destination, we are going to have a desktop review of what we have seen and to analyse it and see how we can come up with laws or make amendments of existing laws to make sure that there is efficiency in the provision of health and safety in our working environment.”

The visit provides an avenue for the Committee to ascertain what is actually happening in the various sectors of our economy in terms of health and safety compliance by the different players in the public and private sectors; with a view to identify many gaps that requirea further legislative reviews and interventions.

Hon. Hamza also underscored the need for employers of labour to enforce policies against bullying and sexual harassment in workplace, adding that: “the bullying policy is encompassing in the health and safety management systems. So I’m sure once these policies are being enhanced, all these things will be taken care of.”

To this end, he directed all the companies to transmit the health and safety documents in line with the 84 checklist compiled by the Committee within the next seven days for further legislative scrutiny.

On his part, Hon Chinyere Igwe who observed that the effectiveness of the various laws guiding the practice of health and safety in the country, depends on the regulators and the means and ways through which they are implemented.

“That is the essence of National Assembly, howbeit the House of Representatives setting up a standing committee on safety regulations and standards to give teeth and a bite to our safety regulations, which are found in our various legislations.

“So the effectiveness is becoming real based on the activities of this Committee, going from company A to Company B to determine how have they been able to imbibe the culture of safety, how have they been able to institutionalize the policy on safety; how are they been able to entrench it into their working life?”

He observed that the companies visited have accredited personnel into various safety Associations, adding that the accreditation is part of the requirements that the Committee requested for, including safety policies.

According to him: “For you to be able to have people accredited into safety organisations, it means that they have it; that is part of the requirements that this Committee has asked, where are your safety policies.

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“By the time they tender them, you will see that the safety policies are suppose to be authenticated by the Chief Executive of the Organisations and in all the companies we went, we saw these authentications. We also saw the policies from different segments on safety, they all have it but it depending on how have they been able to ensure that their working life goes through these safety norms?”

Hon. Igwe maintained that all the Safety Officers are under obligation to be certified by Institute of Safety Professionals on Nigeria (ISPON), irrespective of the foreign certification obtained.

“There is a law in Nigeria. Whether you are certified or whether you are trained in America, you must domesticate your training in Nigeria by passing through the nitty-gritty of the Nigerian safety standards to be certified,” he stressed.

In his address, Hon. Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo explained that the official and legal safety standards practice in Nigeria is through the Factories Act domiciled with Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment as well as the Employee Compensation Act which is domiciled with Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), respectively.

According to him, the policy document regulates how safety practices and activities should be accrued out by all organisations operating across the country.

In the bid to address the observed lacuna in the implementation of safety in workplace in Nigeria, he said: “What should be done is what we are doing right now, the chairman House Committee on Safety Standards and Regulations and members of the delegation have been on oversight to these companies and firms on practices on safety to be able to oversee their standards, make corrections where necessary and also partner with them to safeguard employees in this country.”

In his remarks, Hon Amos Magaji maintained that anyone practicing safety in Nigeria without being certified by ISPON contravenes the law.

He added that there are some medical related cases and Loss Time Injuries (LTIs), fatality in the documentation of incidences in the workplace. He however noted that “some organisations depending on how the supervision and monitoring is, the records may not be as correct as they are presenting it, so that calls for investigation.

“You were there when we asked if there were claims that some of their staff have received compensation from the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF). So that will also lead us to know if the statements they are making are actually correct. So we have other means where we will be able to determine whether the statistics they are presenting are actually correct.”

He observed that some of the organisations are scared of the oversight function being carried out by the Committee, because “they don’t want their organisations to be labeled as unsafe. That’s why some, by whatever means they try to bring down their statistics.”