As the working community of the world celebrated safety and health at work, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSIFT) has preached about the need to anticipate, prepare and respond to crisis by investing in resilient occupational safety and health (OSH).
Speaking on the occasion of the World Safety and Health Day, Assistant General Manager in the Agege branch office, Lagos, Mrs. Muibat O. Alabi, encouraged all employers to invest in resilient OSH system as a preventive measure for accident occurrence.
NSITF is saddled with the implementation of employees’ Compensation Scheme (ECS).
In a statement issued to mark the occasion, Alabi said: “The emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic is an eye opener, and has thought us a lesson that we need to plan and prepare for emergencies.”
She further stated that the pandemic had touched nearly every aspect of the world on work, from the risk of transmission of the virus in workplaces to occupational safety and health (OSH) risks that have emerged as a result of measures to mitigate the spread of the virus.
According to her, proper preparation helps greatly in the prevention of accidents at work.
Alabi said “So anyone who fails to plan, has already planned to fail.
“There is no way a person will plan without envisaging outcomes.
“Often celebrated annually by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on April 28, the envisioning of outcomes, appropriate planning for the outcomes and timely and adequate responses speak to the theme of this year’s ‘World Day for Safety and Health at work 2021.
“NSITF, which has a profound interest and mandate in the welfare of the employees, joined the ILO in commemorating the World Day for Safety and Health at Work.”
Since the commencement of the scheme in 2011, Alabi said: “NSITF has proactively engaged stakeholders in ensuring the safety of employees in workplace through its mandate of promoting the enforcement of occupational safety and health standards in the workplace.”
She disclosed that NSITF anticipates risks at workplace, and when avoidable and unavoidable accidents happen, the fund with its experienced workforce and branches nationwide respond appropriately and ensure adequate compensation is paid.”
She said most registered employers whose employees are captured with NSITF continuously enjoy medical expenses refund, disability benefits, death benefits, loss of productivity benefits and rehabilitation.
“At the moment, cases of industrial accidents, injuries and diseases are being promptly treated as they are reported in full compliance with the Act and to the satisfaction of the stakeholders,” NSITF Agege branch assistant manager said.
Despite the laudable benefits of this scheme, she stated that: “The rate of compliance is still low, thereby reducing the number of beneficiaries.
“However, with our team of well trained, informed and seasoned enforcement officers, who frequently meet with employers to educate them on the benefit of the scheme, we are playing our part, and we will continue to play our part and ensure that with resilience, we will continue to anticipate risks in workplaces.”
