KEY POINTS
- Minister of Labour calls on Nigerian companies to improve the standards of safety during operations.
- The Inner Galaxy Steel Company is still shut down after several deaths due to lack of adherence to safety measures.
- It is important for corporations to pay special attention to employees’ safety and accountability to prevent recurrences of such disasters.
It is for this reason that the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha has encouraged companies in Nigeria to improve their standards in order to prevent employees from dangerous occurrences in their working places.
Onyejeocha stressed the need to ensure that workers are protected in line with the provisions of ‘OSH law’ while at a meeting with the OSH department and the management of Inner Galaxy Steel Company Limited. With successive accidents such as fatalities at the scrap company located in Abia State, the company still operates under a shut down order by the government.
According to The Sun, This meeting was called in order to check the company’s compliance with the safety standards after the series of lethal accidents occurred at the Inner Galaxy Steel Company Ltd., including the death of crane operator Ocheze Vivian Munachim in May, 2024. Munachim died in an accident through falling off a crane that did not have a safety hand rail, two other fatal accident one involving shooting of an employee and the other stabbing has since raised concern over safety of the company.
Shutting down Of factory until compliance with safety standards
They include a statement from the Minister of Women Affairs, initiatives and other performance highlights such as the fact that Inner Galaxy Steel Company will not commence operation again until it complies with all safety standards as demanded by the federal government of Nigeria.
In regard to safety standards, Onyejeocha said categorical that: Yes we would not allow any compromise when it comes to ensuring that safety regulations are complied within the factory, it will only be reopened once it complies with our laws on safety. However, the company has had to compensate for the death, by offering financial assistance and medical support to the family of the deceased, but is now required to look into the system failure that led to the tragedies.
Onyejeocha again stressed that money can never compensate for the loss of human life and appealed to all the companies to ensure the safety of their employees. ”My heartfelt sympathy goes to the families of the deceased and it brings me sorrow that such an incident happens, yet again showing us the importance of the safety of workers,” She said.
This is a call to Nigerian business leaders to take responsibility and accountability to ensure that such occurrences don’t happen again and that they take care of their workforce.
