The Lagos State Government has urged construction companies in the State to get insurance policies that cover their workers and operations.
The Director General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr Lanre Mojola gave the advice at a one-day training on Safety, Health and Hygiene for Artisans, with the theme; “Safety Compliance at Construction sites”.
Mr Mojola explained that the training, which is in line with the mandate of the Commission to ensure that people are trained on safety protocol and practices, was organised to enlightened the company owners as well as artisans, of the responsibilities of their employers particularly when it comes to insurance
“The training is devoted to the construction sector, we have picked Artisans across the different associations, from electricians, bricklayers and welders and enlightened them on how they can ensure safety on their sites and be informed about Insurance schemes.”
”There are several types of insurance that will be appropriate for them, there is Employers’ Liability Insurance, Insurance of Public Building and Insurance of Building under construction, depending on the type of contractor or the contract. The whole message is that they need to ensure that whatever job they take, they are insured, in the event that anything happen and the risk has crystalized what do they fall back on?, that is the message we are passing across to the associations.” he said
Mr Mojola stated that the Commission has been teaching them basic safety etiquettes and practices on how to reduce accidents that occur daily at construction sites.
According to him “The International Labour Organisation, ILO, says that 30 to 40 percent of accidents at work are construction related. Overall, about two point three million accidents occur every year and out of these, we have about 6,300 that are fatal and we want to reduce these accidents as much as possible at construction sites”.
He also advised them to make judicious use of Personal Protective Equipment, PPE, at their various construction sites and to organised their work areas and identify inherent risks to reduce hazards.
The Safety Commission DG promised that Government would continue to do its part to support the industry to keep them safe and fit as they contribute to the GDP of the State.
In his presentation, on the topic; Essentials of Construction Safety, the Director Public Safety and Well-being of the Commission, Mr Adeyinka Adebiyi took the participants through causes of hazards at construction sites and the need for them to imbibe safety culture to prevent accidents.
He pointed that most of the accidents that occured at construction sites are avoidable, stressing the need for workers to understand the operations of construction sites.
