NSITF, NECA Unveil Workplace Safety, Health Audit Report 

–         200 companies get pass mark 

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja 

Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association on Friday presented a report of 2025 workplace safety and health audit conducted as part of the 2025 Safe Workplace Intervention Project (SWIP).

About 200 companies and organisations secured over 50 percent in the 2025 edition of the audit conducted nationwide by a team independent auditors commissioned by NSITF and NECA

Speaking at the presentation of the report at the NSITF’s headquarters in Abuja, Director-General of NECA, Mr. Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said that workplace health and safety convention have become one of the core conventions of the International Labour Organization 

Speaking on the importance of workplace safety and health from the perspective of private sector entities, Oyerinde said it is quite imperative that every organisation aligns with the principles and the letters of those conventions

According to NECA DG, “from the private sector level, health and safety is not just a necessity, it’s also becoming a human rights issue. Because as the ILO said, labor is not a commodity

“It’s humans that are behind the masquerade. So, whatever happens to them has a coloration of human rights. So that’s to show that disposition of private sector to the issue of health and safety is changing away from what people used to think.

“And our commitment, the commitment of both organizations, led to the commencement of the Civil Workplace Intervention Project many years ago”.

Oyerinde said that among the biggest gaps that exist in compliance is knowledge and awareness. 

He also said that gaps in infrastructure also constitute another key challenge to effort to institute a sustainable culture of health and safety practices in the country’s workplace.

Earlier in his address, the Managing Director of NSITF, Barrister Oluwaseun Faleye said that both NSITF and NECA have decided to collaboratively implement the SWIP initiative in order to further promote compliance to workplace safety and health standards.

He said “SWIP was conceived as a practical response to a persistent national challenge: the reality that too many Nigerian workers remain exposed to avoidable workplace risks, and too many employers still do not fully understand, or comply with, the protections provided under the Employees’ Compensation Act, 2010.”

Faleye disclosed there will be series of events to recognize and reward organisations that made their mark in the nationwide audit across the six geographical zones.

“We are hoping that this recognition, this award, this for excellence and good behavior, and of course, compliance with the Act will further support others to embrace compliance in a way that we want it to be.  

“Because we feel that this sort of activities not only encourage compliance, and its compliance really will not be by way of enforcement alone, we feel by way of engagement in this sort of activities, we also make people understand the benefits that is that is accrued or applicable to businesses,” he said.

Faleye said the Employee Compensation Act is a very robust law that deals with workplace injuries, rehabilitation and compensation, adding that the management of NSITF realizes that proper stakeholders, engagement and dialogue is necessary, hence the decision to collaborate with NECA to deepen the level of compliance.

 According to Faleye, the award ceremonies will take place in Lagos on January 20 (for South West), Enugu -South East/South-South (January 22) and the Grand finale to held in Abuja on January 27 for the companies in the northern zone 

He said that various gifts, ranging from ambulance vehicles to Personal Protective Equipments have been packaged for presentation to the top performing organisations during award ceremonies.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Sally Ousmane, in an address at the press conference delivered on his behalf by the Director Regional Health and Safety, Mrs. Florence Owie, commended NSITF and NECA “for sustaining this laudable initiative, which continues to make meaningful contributions to the strengthening of Nigerian occupational safety and health.”