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CULTIVATING SAFETY IN A CHALLENGING ECONOMY

workplace accident will hit home harder are likely Not because people are naturally averse to the word itself or the idea of being safe. I mean no one leaves home in the morning looking to kill or maim themselves or someone else by the day’s end. No, rather the opposite is the case, everyone desires nothing more than to return home safe and sound to their loved ones at the end of each day, whether from work, play or social engagements. Question then is why do we sometimes do things that endanger us and others around us? Things as mundane as not wearing seat belts, motorcycle crash helmets, driving within speed limits, using the mobile phone while driving, reading while descending or ascending the stairs and so on. Why? My guess is because safety is an intangible quantity, namely, we can’t touch it nor see it. We take it for granted until there is a change of state like when one is injured, something is broken or some emergency occurs resulting in some severe loss. Then safety becomes t
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Road Traffic Collisions Are Preventable

Road traffic collisions (so called accidents) kill thousands of people in Nigeria every year. This is apart from thousands of others who are injured in the process, not to mention damage to property and the environment. Popular studies indicate that driver error is a major causal factor of upwards of about 80% of those crashes.That is to say that much volume of the total numbers could have been prevented if the drivers involved did the right thing and acted correctly, and n time. While it may be true that a driver's action or inaction plays a critical role in what eventually happens, it is also true only those with the necessary knowledge, skill, training and education are the likely likely to act correctly in time to avoid a looming disaster. Any driver short of good and proper schooling in the art of safe driving education  can on a good day be a problem to self and others. Unless it is possible to give what you do not have. For according to local authority sources, most dri

Staying safe on the road is not a Cocktail Party

Road traffic collisions (so called accidents) kill thousands of people in Nigeria every year, aside from thousands of others injured, not to mention damage to property and the environment as a result. It is estimated that in about 80% of those occurrences driver error is the principally the primary cause. That is to say that as many as eighty percent could have been prevented if drivers involved had acted differently when it mattered most. However, drivers can only prevent collisions if they know what to do to respond correctly in time to dangerous situations. Acting correctly in time comes with proper training and constant practice. Any driver not properly schooled in the art of safe driving is a problem to him/herself as well as to others because like they say, it is impossible to give what you do not have. According to local authority sources, most drivers plying our roads lack basic safe driving skills because they did not pass through approved or standard driver training sc

Ok we won't talk Safety, Only Business

This happens frequently with some business owners and senior managers in countless workplaces. “ No. I don’t want to hear about safety today, I am swamped". The real business is crying for my attention. So many things are going wrong all over the place all of a sudden. I have got to do something fast otherwise there might not even be a business left to talk about, much less your precious safety. We just have to take a scrubbing brush to the whole thing and give it a good shine. So this safety thing of yours just has to wait, am sorry. But where do I begin? See? It’s all falling apart and only the good Lord knows why. If only people will do what they’re supposed to do! This is one tough call, Bro. I won’t lie to you but there is no giving up – not on my watch anyhow, no way. They say a Spartan dies but never surrenders. Come to think of it I always wondered if there is any real sense in such a finite philosophy but, this is not Sparta. This here is Rollard Iron Works, Inc.

Emergencies, response planning, management, and all that

Emergencies are a part of life and they can happen anytime whether at work, home, on the road or in your community. So preparing for them ahead of time is the only sure way to take the sting out of what impact or effect they may be packing wherever, wherever. For an office block for example your Emergency Response Plan (ERP) should include the following: * Begin by drawing up emergency evacuation plans for each floor and make sure that they are conspicuously displayed for all to see * Ensure they are simple and easy to read and understand * Boldly mark the location of exits and fire/emergency appliances clearly * Appoint designated Fire/Emergency Wardens or Superintendents for each floor and assign specific emergency roles/duties * Train all occupants on orderly evacuation of the building in an emergency and post directional signs to designated safe muster zones for head count * Train occupants to avoid the temptation of trying to retrieve or save their valuables

What caused this accident? This is a regular and familiar question.

  Once there has been some major occurrence with serious impact on people, assets and the environment, the next best thing from onlookers is to ask what caused it. Well truth is try as you will, there's never been just that single cause of any accident, be it at home, work, play or in the community. What usually happens is that a chain of seemingly small and inconsequential and unrelated events gang up over a space of time to explode in that single forceful reckoning commonly referred to as an accident. What caused it? The real failing is us not recognizing what is ahead after the series of inconsequential, unrelated events or subtle warning signs that intrude on our set daily routine. Take a simple case of a vehicle, dripping brake fluid from a pinhole leak in the hose connecting the reservoir to the chamber. Most drivers will be aware of it happening but will fail to grasp its ultimate importance to their own safety. Or better still, some will be willing to take a chance

How Much of Your Opex Do You Save Cutting Corners?

What % of your operating budget do you save when you look the other way while unauthorized changes and deviations are a norm in the workplace under your supervision? Would you 5, 10, 15 or maybe 30%? You are not too sure how much, if anything at all? Well, it is highly unlikely that you will ever save on your Opex if employees are free to make up their own rules as they go along or can decide which step on the job comes next instead of what the approved procedures say. In fact working with scant regards for the Right Way of doing things condemns you to an ever spiraling  operating budget spend. Because you'll find that you are constantly grappling with 'digging a hole to fill a hole' throughout the life of  the project. In the end, there are no prizes for guessing that your project will come in grossly over budget and way outside the delivery schedule because of all the issues of rework, unplanned stoppages, delayed logistics, repairs and replacements, backtracking, c