Sterling Bank, MTN Nigeria, BCL, Others for 9jaSAFE Award

Sterling Bank, MTN Nigeria and Business Contracting Limited (BCL) are among the organisations billed to be awarded at the third edition of Nigeria’s independent Occupational Safety, Health and Environment award, Nigeria Safety Award for Excellence Hall of Fame tagged 9jaSAFE Award 2017.

The award event is scheduled for September 15, at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, and will be hosted by ace comedian, Seyi Law, like the two previous editions.

9jaSAFE Award is organised by Safety Record Newspaper, publishers of Nigeria’s premier Occupational Safety, Health and Environment newspaper. Chief Coordinating Officer, 9jaSAFE Award, Mr. Femi Da-silva said the award was initiated to honour organisations and individuals that have achieved excellence in the field by the introduction, development and improvement of health, safety and environment initiatives and programmes within their work environment and operating communities.

He said, “According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), it is estimated that over 2.3 million fatalities and 300 million accidents causing injuries occur in the workplace globally every year. Better put, one worker dies every 15 seconds in the course of their work and more often than not this worker is the breadwinner of his/her family. These are grim statistics indeed, and Nigeria is not left out.

“We also have had disturbing trends of industrial and domestic fire incidents, building collapses during and after construction, ghastly auto crashes on our highways and others, leading to enormous fatalities and injuries to many more. Many of these result not from natural causes but unsafe practices in our environment.”

Da-silva, who is also the Managing Editor of Safety Record Newspaper added, “We believe that adherence to proper corporate safety processes, enhanced government regulations and enforcement, in addition to aggressive safety advocacy, awareness and enlightenment are required to check this unwholesome trend. Supporting the award event for this year are Hybrid Group, UPDC, Ikeja City Mall and others,” he further noted. The award has been endorsed by various stakeholders in the field including Fire Protection Association of Nigeria (FPAN), Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), Lagos State Safety Commission, Society for Occupational and Environmental Health Physicians of Nigeria (SOEHPON), World Safety Organisation (WSO) Nigeria Office, and American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) Nigeria Chapter.

The award ceremony is not only focused on recognising organisations in Nigeria that have created a safe workplace environment for their workers and protected their operating environment too, but also to highlight Nigerian individuals who continue to promote safety within their spheres of influence in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, whose ministry oversees occupational safety and health issues in the country, has confirmed his attendance as a Special Guest of Honour at the event.

Also expected are Sen. Duro Faseyi, who is sponsoring the Occupational Safety and Health Bill, 2016 presently before the National Assembly, and Hon. Iboro Ekanem, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Health Implication of Mounting Telecommunication Masts Close to Buildings.

Previous winners of the 9jaSAFE award in the company categories include FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria, Benin Electric, Oando Marketing Plc, Heightsafety West Africa, Animal Care Konsult Services, IPI, African Circle Pollution Management, Flying Doctors Emergency Response Unit and others.