The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment in collaboration with International Labour Organisation, ILO and other agencies organised a road show in commemoration of this year’s World Day for Safety and Health at Work.
The road show which commenced from Federal Secretariat, Abuja to Gudu market was aimed at raising awareness and educates people about preventing occupational accidents and other diseases caused due to work environment.
Director of Occupational Safety and Health in the Ministry, Mrs. Adogu Lauretta Nnena, while speaking to journalists in an interview on Thursday in Abuja said they were implementing the national policy on Occupational Safety and Health to both formal and informal sectors in all work places.
She explained that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment is the statutory authority in-charge of health safety and welfare of workers, adding that the needs to educate them to stay safe at work places cannot be overemphasized.
“The reason why we came here is that, we have gone to other places, and there was need to visit this place as well. There are some health hazards that are inherent in this place and we have to educate them on what to do.
“Like here, we learnt that there are some chemicals and we have chemical hazard. And what are hazards? Hazards are conditions that can resolve to accident. Accident can cause injuries and disability which will go along way to cause a lot of problems to the good family of workers or people who are walking around”
According to her, the compliance level at the informal sector is not high, it is coming up. Through this advocacy and promotion, they will be aware of what safety and health at work place mean.
Fielding questions if there are penalties for those who did not comply, she disclosed that they have been prosecuting none compliance after warning letters have been issued to defaulters.
“There are penalties for those who did not comply. After each factory inspection, there are always reports and caution letters to all the places we visited for inspection” she said.
Health Officer from ILO, Mr. Ojobo Adah said ILO has been supportive and collaborative with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC.
He said, over the years, we have been supporting Ministry of Labour and NLC financially and otherwise in various programmes. Today, we are also here to support them.
Talking about safety environment, Adah asserted that government has not been doing much of what is expected of them.
“The laws are there, but the implementation is the problem. If government will be able to implement it to the later, there will be no problem” he said.
At Gudu market, many who participated in the programme received free test on HIV, sugar level and other sicknesses free of charge, so as to enable them know their health status.
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