WORKPLACE SAFETY: NSITF PRIORITIZES ACCIDENT PREVENTION AS TOP PRIORITY
GREATRIBUNETVNEWS–THE Managing Director of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye, has emphasized that prevention of accidents is a top priority for the Fund.
KEY POINTS:
– Prevention is Key : “Every compensation is a story of pain and no amount of compensation can replace a human life,” Barrister Faleye stated at the 15th International Safety Conference and Awards 2025.
– Safety Compliance Initiatives : The Fund is strengthening safety compliance initiatives to prevent accidents, as part of its efforts to promote workplace safety, according to Barrister Faleye.
– Digital Systems : NSITF is investing in digital systems for claims processing to improve efficiency, the Managing Director revealed.
– Capacity Building : The Fund is building capacity across industries to promote workplace safety, Barrister Faleye noted.
– Global Best Practices: NSITF is collaborating with organizations to maintain global best practices in workplace safety, he added.
– Cost of Violating Safety Rules: Violating safety rules is a national burden with three painful dimensions, according to Barrister Faleye, who was represented by General Manager of the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Department of NSITF, Tesh Kibikiwa, at the conference.
– Learning from Tragedy : The 15th International Safety Conference and Awards 2025, themed ‘From Tragedy To Transformation: Learning from the Cost of Violating Safety Rules,’ aimed to learn from past tragedies and transform workplace safety practices, as stated in the conference announcement.
In his words, “there is the Human Cost when Workers lose limbs, livelihoods, and sometimes their lives, families suffer emotional trauma and economic hardship, and children are forced out of school because a parent’s income has suddenly vanished.
“Then there is the Organizational Cost where Companies suffer reputational damage, loss of productivity, equipment losses, litigation, and downtime. Many businesses underestimate these costs until tragedy strikes and then the price becomes too high.
“There is also the National Economic Cost. Injuries and fatalities contribute to lost GDP, reduced manpower, higher health costs, and a weakened labour force,” he stressed.
While aligning with the theme of the conference, the NSITF Managing Director stressed the importance of safety to every facet of human endeavor and the crucial role it plays to the economic emancipation of any Nation.
He enjoined all stakeholders to prioritize safety as topmost in their day to day engagement in order to mitigate against frequency of accidents in the workplace and called for strengthened collaboration among safety professionals, regulators, employers, unions, training bodies, insurance and compensation institutions
Other speakers at the event included the Honourable Minister of State for Works, Barr. Bello Muhammed Goronyo, the President OSH Association UK – Nigeria Region, Dr. Amb. Olusegun Aderemi, as well as the representative of the Honourable Minister of Regional Development, Engr Abubakar Momoh.
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