The Lagos State Government has urged construction companies in the State to get construction insurance that covers their workers and operations.
The Director General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr Lanre Mojola said this at a one-day training on Safety, Health and Hygiene for Artisans in Lagos State, with the theme; ‘Safety Compliance at Construction sites’.
Mojola explained that the training workshop was organised to enlighten company owners as well as artisans on the responsibilities of their employers to ensure that they are adequately insured.
He said the training is in line with the mandate of the Commission to ensure people are trained on safety protocol and practices.
“The training is devoted to the construction sector, while we have picked Artisans across the different associations, from electricians, bricklayers, welders on how they can ensure safety on thier 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 to what do they fall back on. That is the message we are passing across to the associations” he said.
Mojola said the Commission is teaching them basic safety etiquettes and practices on how to reduce accidents which occur daily on construction sites.
According to him “The International Labor Organisation ILO says that 30 to 40 percent of the accident at work place are construction related.
And overall about 2.3 million accident occur ever year and out of this we have about 6,300 that are fatal and we want to reduce accident as much as possible at construction sites”.
Need for safety
He also advised them to make judicious use of the Personal Protective Equipments PPE at their various construction sites to reduce hazards.
He said: “We are preaching the message of PPE to them, they must reverse the practice of ignoring the use of this protective equipment.
“Ours is to pass the basic knowledge in terms of organising their work areas, identifying hazards and risks that are inherent or can can cause injury and lead to fatalities.
“Part of this is letting them know that if they loose their limbs they won’t be able to work, so they need to continue to wear their Personal Protective Equipments”.
He however promised that the Government would continue to do it’s part in supporting the industry and ensuring their safety.
Construction hazards
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 at workplaces.
He pointed out that most of the accidents that occur at construction sites are avoidable, stressing the need for workers to understand the operations at construction sites.
Emmanuel Ukoh
