TOOLBOX TALK

That thousands of Nigerians are routinely killed on roads and highways each year is no longer shocking news to anyone in the country. Collisions occur by the minute that keeping pace with the count is a tough job. In fact one source has it that a Nigerian is killed on the road every 15 minutes, which works out to be four people per hour, 96 per day and 35,040 men, women and children in a 365-day year! If Nigeria suffered that many casualties in a shooting war with another country in just one year we’ll all be up in arms protesting the country’s involvement in such a life wasting misadventure. We would have been unanimous in calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and most likely the resignation of the leader at the time. But here we are, living with an inescapable reality of a steady decimation of what must be the most productive segment of the population – a clear and present danger to the country’s economic growth and wellbeing – and yet no one is marching on Aso Roc...

Accidents don’t just happen they are caused – by us! They happen because of what we do and/or fail to do. But in Nigeria, where we have a penchant for the absurd, you’re most likely to hear that they happen because God willed it. After all religion is our thing! I believe in God but blaming Him so, to me, is taking things too far. It is as illogical as it is misplaced. Therefore, I submit I see no point in blaming anyone else but ourselves for the regular loss of life and property around the country. Mind you, some government officials do not help matters whenever they make light of these horrific events by simply laying them on God’s doorstep, whereas the public would in all likelihood feel a lot more reassured if they, agents of government, would step up and be more forthcoming on ways and means to stop the next one due from occurring. God’s ways may be mysterious but how he can so regularly will such massive deaths and destruction on his people should beat anyone’s religious im...

You too can profit from Safety - if you want to. You may be a Small, Medium-sized or a Big-time operator, it doesn't make any difference. You've to want it for it to become reality, to bring it to fruition. Profiting from Safety comes to those who consciously set out for it. First, you must have a Safety Plan for the Business. Second, communicate the Plan. Third, work the Plan. Fourth, review, improve and continue to work the Plan. 1. Have a Safety Plan First, put a safety management plan in place for your business. This plan should include a safety policy, organization, roles and responsibilities, standards, procedures, etc. The policy should state the safety intent of the company, management leadership, supervisory support, employee involvement and buy-in. An all inclusive policy is easier accepted. Next, set a up a simple organization so that roles and responsibilities are clear, set goals and key performance indicators, develop procedures, etc. Move to the next stage. ...

What is safety? Bloody waste of time and money! Really? No doubt, there are some business owners who may think, feel and act like safety is a waste of time and money. An abstract quantity. A studied distraction from the all important business of the day, production. But can there be many of them around today, still in business turning a profit, if any at all? Not a lot, I would imagine. It simply isn't logical to expect a business operating with scant regards for safety to stay afloat for any appreciable length of time because workplace accidents cost you money, whether you realize it or not. That accidents and incidents steadily chip away at your bottom line is no longer news. Proving it is not rocket science either. You just have to look to see it. Each so-called accident dislocates the day's plans and imposes a new agenda on all concerned, the individual (or individuals), organization and Clients. It extends the boundaries of your budgetary expenditure, taxes your reser...

This has nothing to do with a stake out or anything like that. When it comes to safety on-the-job, it simply refers to the art of taking a detailed and comprehensive look at what you plan to do and how; taking each step in turn to ascertain that nothing has escaped your scrutiny or attention. Workplace accidents or so called, are often traceable to those little things that slipped through the gap due to oversight, familiarity with the routine, repetitive application, time pressure, competing interests/goals, skills deficiency or plain I-know-what-I-am-doing ego thing. So it figures that most workplace so-called accidents are preventable. Or could be prevented if every job task or routine is subject to a second look aka casing the joint. On-the-job errors are costly, regardless. This is because whatever the circumstances, an error is an error. It spells doom for your pocket as the business owner, employer, employee, contractor or shareholder. Unfortunately, shop floor ...

Business safety issues in Nigeria are largely left to hope rather than experience. Cataclysmal occurrences elsewhere are ascribed to ill luck, home trouble, which can be left with the Pastor, Alfa, Babalawo, Seer or Marabout to sort out while you get on with the business of "making money". Sad road to take, but mind you, the choice is entirely yours. Besides, the power to choose is one of the most powerful tools God gifted us with so there's no call for regret when it all falls down and your business is badly hit. Your employees may be killed or maimed in the process which will leave in all sorts of troubles. It is a fact that each so-called accident puts you in the line of ill affordable mass of restitution bills, compensation claims, hiked insurance premiums and general re-start headaches; and a permanently damaged business reputation. Mind you, people will cotton on faster if we had a clear cut policy and practice of enforcement of health and safety regulatio...

Workers bringing an apparently long, stressful day to a close have just about one immediate thought in mind: Drop the work gear and hurry on out of the workplace and head on home where the irksome supervisor is thankfully a world away, until tomorrow. So off they go hardly paying attention to the  state of the worksite. Is it safe for their inevitable return tomorrow? Are tools and surplus material stowed away properly, away from natural elements so they can safely be redeployed or put to use tomorrow without much ado? Are hazard control systems like the permit-to-work duly signed off with the end-of-day work status notes accurately documented to aid safe worksite re-entry come tomorrow or in the overriding pressure to be the first through the gate some minor but safety critical details have been overlooked, under stated or simply glossed over? Is equipment or machinery that should be switched off switched off? Are releva...