ISPON President Calls for Collaboration to Improve Safety Culture

Chinedu Eze

The President of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), Dr Stephen Udezi, has called for stronger collaboration between government and the private sector to improve safety culture in industries and other organisations in Nigeria.

Udezi said that with stronger collaboration there will be significant reduction in preventable deaths, environmental safety hazards in Nigeria.

Speaking at a conference in Lagos ahead of ISPON’s 12th anniversary celebration scheduled for today in Warri, Delta State, with the theme: ‘Health and Safety Management in Nigeria, Prospects and Retrospects’, Dr. Udezi emphasised that poor safety culture and the activities of unqualified practitioners remain major causes of accidents across industries and communities.

He urged state governments to establish safety commissions similar to the model in Lagos State and urged authorities to include ISPON in accident investigations nationwide to improve data collection and prevention strategies.

He also urged that safety education be introduced from kindergarten to secondary school level, saying children trained early in safety consciousness would grow into more responsible citizens and help reduce vandalism, unsafe transport practices and workplace accidents.

Udezi advocated for wider collaboration with artisans’ associations, higher institutions and media organisations to take safety campaigns directly to markets, workshops and communities across the country. 

Also speaking, the Lagos State Chairman of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, ISPON, Mr. Olusola Ogunleye, said that collaboration between the institute and the Lagos State Safety Commission has significantly strengthened safety enforcement and professional standards across key sectors in the state.

He said, activities marking ISPON’s anniversary celebration, Ogunleye said the partnership, backed by the institute’s governing board and the ISPON Act of 2014, has eliminated previous disagreements between both bodies and created a united front for safety regulation in Lagos.