Lagos State Govt. Set To Launch "Vision Zero" Workplace Safety.

The Lagos State Government, through the Lagos State Safety Commission, is set to host a conference for the launch of Lagos Vision Zero with the theme: “A Mindset Change Towards Zero Harm”, qas part of efforts to enhance safety conscious attitude amongst employees in the workplace.

According to the Director-General, Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Hakeem Dickson, the Conference became imperative in light of the spate of incidences in the workplace which negatively affect the safety, health and well-being of workers.

He explained that the conference on workplace safety aims for a paradigm shift to conform with the global vision of prevention of interrelated issues of occupational safety and employees health, which are best managed in a comprehensive and integrated manner.

He solicited for leadership commitment to the “Vision Zero” campaign where every accident is preventable and sought support from other relevant stakeholders towards the Commission’s efforts to build an inclusive Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Workplace strategy for the protection and education of the workforce.

The Director-General added that the Lagos State Safety Commission is committed to ensuring proper regulation, policy formulation and advocacy for all sectors involved in socio-economic activities, stressing that the Commission’s mandate includes building reliable statistics to enhance preventive measures in wellbeing /wellness in the workplace across the State.

Mr. Dickson revealed that the Lagos State Safety Commission, being the only Safety Agency in the Country and by extension the Sub Saharan Africa, participated in the 21^st World Congress on Safety and Health at work, which took place for the first time in September 2017, at Marina Bay Sands,  Singapore, and presented a paper titled “Implementing Integrated Safety and health to employees: Lagos State Experience”.

“The paper presented by the Agency highlighted the need to make the workplace safer and healthier through building global prevention culture. The congress was tailored towards advancing global agenda on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in the world”, he added.

The Director-General said that death, accident and injuries in workplaces represent colossal social and economic burden for enterprises, communities and countries in addition to human and financial problems for workers and their families.

He reiterated the need to keep up to date with latest Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) developments and constantly review the existing practices and standards.

While describing workplace accidents as an unfortunate phenomenon that is preventable if systematic measures are put in place and sustained, Dickson informed that the protection of workers should not be sacrificed for economic gain and called on employers and workers to work in synergy to cultivate a safe and healthy work environment.

“We can only progress on our journey towards vision zero through a shared commitment of companies, organizations, governments and workers across the globe” he stated.

The Lagos Vision Zero Conference is expected to hold in June while various committees have been set up to ensure a hitch-free conference.